Profund Advisors LLC Raises Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Profund Advisors LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 48.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,328 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,095,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% in the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in 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. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $44.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.61 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.06. The company has a market capitalization of $25.34 billion, a PE ratio of 25.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $32.18 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 97.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Bank of America raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.18.

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.