Empowered Funds LLC Has $418,000 Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 10.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 881 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. increased 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 increased its position in FirstEnergy by 52.7% in 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 bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at $596,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 1,088,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,667,000 after purchasing an additional 24,512 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.1% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 854,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,906,000 after purchasing an additional 17,462 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $41.79 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $35.41 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.87 and a 200-day moving average of $41.45. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.73 billion for 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%. FirstEnergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FE shares. KeyCorp increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. Barclays increased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.91.

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.