Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Acquires Shares of 2,721 FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,721 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $121,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Sachetta LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 48.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after buying an additional 325 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. One research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $42.63 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $42.78 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $35.41 and a 52 week high of $44.97.

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). The company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

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.