KBC Group NV Boosts Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

KBC Group NV lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 40,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,073 shares during the period. KBC Group NV’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,789,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised 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 worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the second quarter worth about $38,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $41.69 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.07 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.38. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $35.41 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.90, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.08%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 109.68%.

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.