Raymond James Trust N.A. Takes Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Raymond James Trust N.A. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 4,841 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after purchasing an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,557,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $136,152,000 after buying an additional 69,512 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,725,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,288,000 after buying an additional 193,540 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,896,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,570,000 after acquiring an additional 104,253 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in FirstEnergy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,622,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,960,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $42.62 on Friday. 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 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 $42.77 and a 200-day moving average of $41.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. 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 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. 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. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target 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.