Empirical Finance LLC Increases Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 343 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $809,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FE. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth $38,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $41.51 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $43.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $35.41 and a one year 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

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.