FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Holdings Cut by Fifth Third Bancorp

Fifth Third Bancorp lowered its holdings in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 2.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 429,625 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,896 shares during the period. Fifth Third Bancorp’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $18,616,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FE. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 9.2% in the 3rd quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 33,187 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,438,000 after acquiring an additional 2,799 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $36,000. Machina Capital S.A.S. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 79.1% in the 3rd quarter. Machina Capital S.A.S. now owns 37,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,630,000 after purchasing an additional 16,617 shares during the last quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 291,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,623,000 after purchasing an additional 16,867 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AlphaCore Capital LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 191.3% in the 3rd quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 12,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after purchasing an additional 8,194 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE:FE opened at $46.99 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $45.52 and its 200 day moving average price is $47.50. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $42.67 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The company has a market capitalization of $27.20 billion, a PE ratio of 17.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.24 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 11.07%. The business’s revenue was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.4650 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 89.42%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on FE shares. New Street Research set a $47.00 price target on FirstEnergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 26th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. is an investor-owned electric utility holding company focused primarily on regulated electricity transmission and distribution. Through its utility subsidiaries, it delivers electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland. The company’s operations include maintaining local electric distribution networks and owning and operating high-voltage transmission infrastructure across portions of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.