Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC Purchases 16,729 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 110.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 31,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,729 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,413,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FE. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 77,928,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,009,615,000 after purchasing an additional 9,773,785 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 63.4% in the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,328,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,295,000 after acquiring an additional 515,458 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after acquiring an additional 457,231 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $14,933,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter valued at $12,631,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on FE shares. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock opened at $44.09 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $34.91 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $43.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.86. The stock has a market cap of $25.39 billion, a PE ratio of 31.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 120.57%.

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.