FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Stock Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Key Points

• Allspring trimmed its FirstEnergy stake by 0.2%, selling 23,746 shares in the third quarter. It still held 10.83 million shares, worth about $470 million, or 1.87% of the company.
• FirstEnergy reported quarterly EPS of $0.98, beating the $0.90 analyst consensus, while revenue of $4.56 billion rose 12.2% year over year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.465 per share, equivalent to an annualized yield of about 4.0%. Analysts’ consensus rating was “Moderate Buy,” with a $50.77 average price target.

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC decreased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 0.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,832,736 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 23,746 shares during the period. FirstEnergy accounts for approximately 0.7% of Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC's holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 1.87% of FirstEnergy worth $470,032,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ethic Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 107.3% in the 3rd quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 48,621 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,107,000 after acquiring an additional 25,163 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 530.2% in the third quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC now owns 3,258 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $141,000 after buying an additional 2,741 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 15.9% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 242,975 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,528,000 after acquiring an additional 33,265 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.4% during the 3rd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,413 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $278,000 after acquiring an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 680,091 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,468,000 after acquiring an additional 43,877 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.0%

NYSE:FE opened at $46.44 on Monday. FirstEnergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $42.67 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a current ratio of 0.38. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $45.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.24 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 7.40%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.83 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a $0.4650 dividend. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 89.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 26th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. HSBC started coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a "buy" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings raised shares of FirstEnergy from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "buy (b)" rating in a research report on Monday, November 2nd. Finally, New Street Research set a $47.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. is an investor-owned electric utility holding company focused primarily on regulated electricity transmission and distribution. Through its utility subsidiaries, it delivers electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland.

The company's operations include maintaining local electric distribution networks and owning and operating high-voltage transmission infrastructure across portions of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.

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