Quantbot Technologies LP Acquires 54,471 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 303.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 72,437 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,471 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,444,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $256,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth $289,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.0% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $453,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 40.7% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 43,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.8% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut FirstEnergy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.83.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.1%

FE stock opened at $45.99 on Monday. FirstEnergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $42.87 and a twelve month high of $52.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $47.92 and its 200-day moving average is $48.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.61 billion, a PE ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 6.86%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.465 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 98.94%.

FirstEnergy Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company’s primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid?Atlantic. FirstEnergy’s service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy’s core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.