Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Acquires 6,416 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. grew its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,416 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 8.4% in the 1st quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 33,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after acquiring an additional 2,634 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 550.6% in the 1st quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 80,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,124,000 after acquiring an additional 68,461 shares in the last quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 19.7% during the 1st quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 22,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after acquiring an additional 3,627 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,517,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $367,423,000 after acquiring an additional 218,165 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE FE opened at $42.63 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $24.57 billion, a PE ratio of 27.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $35.41 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $42.78 and a 200-day moving average of $41.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued 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 (DPR) is presently 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.