Cerity Partners LLC Increases Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 7.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 275,682 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,847 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $12,227,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FE. Tidal Investments LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 8.4% in the first quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 13,083 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $505,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 287,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,102,000 after purchasing an additional 18,328 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 8.4% during the first quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 33,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,309,000 after purchasing an additional 2,634 shares during the last quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 550.6% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 80,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,124,000 after purchasing an additional 68,461 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Advisors LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 19.7% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisors LLC now owns 22,052 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $852,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $42.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $42.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.48. The company has a market capitalization of $24.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.28, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.51. 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 Corp. has a twelve month low of $35.41 and a twelve month high of $44.97.

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

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.91.

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.