Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Lowers Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 76.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 67,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 219,398 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,990,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 36.0% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.2% in the 2nd quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,000 after acquiring an additional 312 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of FE opened at $41.50 on Wednesday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $34.92 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on FE. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Profile

FirstEnergy Corp., through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, and distributes electricity in the United States. It operates through Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments. The company owns and operates coal-fired, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, and solar power generating facilities.