International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases 273,837 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Key Points

• International Assets Investment Management increased its FirstEnergy position by 2,453.1% in the third quarter, purchasing 273,837 shares and bringing its holdings to 285,000 shares valued at approximately $12.35 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with eight Buy ratings and four Hold ratings resulting in a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $50.77.
• FirstEnergy exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.98 in earnings per share and $4.56 billion in revenue, while maintaining a quarterly dividend of $0.465 per share, equivalent to a 4.0% annual yield.

International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 2,453.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 285,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 273,837 shares during the quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $12,349,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,971,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $508,158,000 after acquiring an additional 694,449 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 11.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,396,317 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,377,000 after acquiring an additional 573,731 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 103.2% during the first 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 during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.4% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,627,745 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $133,116,000 after purchasing an additional 35,259 shares during the period. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.4% during the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 2,621,338 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $132,797,000 after purchasing an additional 156,920 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on FE. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, September 14th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 26th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $50.00 target price for the company. New Street Research set a $47.00 price target on FirstEnergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Barclays decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $46.95 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $27.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $45.42 and a 200-day moving average of $47.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $42.67 and a 1-year high of $52.34.

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

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

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

FirstEnergy Company 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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