Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Acquires 7,605 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 25.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,907 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,605 shares during the quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,417.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 743,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,965,000 after purchasing an additional 694,313 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after acquiring an additional 457,231 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth $14,933,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,178.5% during the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 286,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,977,000 after acquiring an additional 264,389 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,445.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 219,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,732,000 after purchasing an additional 214,606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.82.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $40.50 on Wednesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $35.41 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.