FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Bought by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,151 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.62% of FirstEnergy worth $153,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 361.9% in the third quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 24,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,101,000 after acquiring an additional 19,457 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 21.5% during the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 26,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,108,000 after buying an additional 4,682 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 3.6% during the third quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $486,000 after buying an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 43.7% during the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 223,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,927,000 after buying an additional 68,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the third quarter worth approximately $2,050,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $40.27 on Monday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $35.41 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.13 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.21 billion, a PE ratio of 25.98, a PEG ratio of 2.17 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). 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, equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.22%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

FirstEnergy Company 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.