Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Increases Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 34.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 33,827 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,703 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,490,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 187,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,259,000 after acquiring an additional 54,990 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,335,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,572,000 after purchasing an additional 67,469 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 3.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 42,484 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 214.5% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 73,567 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,841,000 after buying an additional 50,176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter worth about $929,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $41.82 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $34.92 and a one year high of $44.97. The firm has a market cap of $24.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.06). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on FE. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

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.