FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Stock: Vise Technologies Inc. Increases Holdings

Key Points

• Vise Technologies increased its FirstEnergy stake by 73.4% in the third quarter, to 58,467 shares valued at about $2.53 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 89.41% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus, with an average price target of $50.77; eight analysts rate the stock Buy and four rate it Hold.
• FirstEnergy beat quarterly expectations, reporting EPS of $0.98 versus the $0.90 estimate and revenue of $4.56 billion. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.465 per share, equivalent to a 3.9% annual yield at the article’s cited share price.

Vise Technologies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 73.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 58,467 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 24,757 shares during the period. Vise Technologies Inc.'s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,533,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth $97,602,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 103.2% during the 1st quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,991,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $151,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,737 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $62,161,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 157.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,273,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $55,199,000 after purchasing an additional 778,617 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,971,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $508,158,000 after purchasing an additional 694,449 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. HSBC began coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a "buy" rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 21st. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.1%

FirstEnergy stock opened at $47.16 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $45.47 and a 200-day moving average of $47.52. FirstEnergy Corporation has a one year low of $42.67 and a one year high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $27.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.39.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.24 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 7.40%. FirstEnergy's revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.83 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a $0.4650 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 89.42%.

FirstEnergy Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. NYSE: FE is an electric utility company focused on the transmission and distribution of electricity. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the poles, lines, substations and other infrastructure that support electric service.

FirstEnergy's distribution operations serve customers across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland. Its utility companies include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Jersey Central Power & Light, Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn Power, Mon Power and The Potomac Edison Company.

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