GSA Capital Partners LLP Makes New Investment in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 22,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,012,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in FE. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.3% in the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,317,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,422,000 after buying an additional 42,484 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 52.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 87,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,361,000 after acquiring an additional 30,309 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth $596,000. Capital International Inc. CA increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 89.3% in the first quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 223,152 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,618,000 after purchasing an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.3% in the second quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 1,088,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,667,000 after purchasing an additional 24,512 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. 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, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $41.52 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $43.18 and a 200-day moving average of $41.30. The company has a market capitalization of $23.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.78, a P/E/G ratio of 2.22 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced 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 business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

About FirstEnergy

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.