Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $40.21 Million Position in FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation by 2.9%, buying an additional 28,328 shares during the first quarter, bringing its total holding to approximately 994,807 shares valued at $40.2 million.
• FirstEnergy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, yielding 4.1%, with the ex-dividend date on August 7th.
• Analyst ratings for FirstEnergy show a mix, with the average price target at $46.08 and a "Hold" rating from nine analysts, while six have rated the stock as a buy.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 994,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 28,328 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.17% of FirstEnergy worth $40,205,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FE. Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.4% in the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 22,677 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.5% in the first quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $222,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tranquility Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the first quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC now owns 18,159 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $734,000 after purchasing an additional 297 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.08.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE stock traded down $0.56 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $42.91. 2,278,596 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,917,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The stock has a market cap of $24.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.48. The stock's 50-day moving average is $41.15 and its 200-day moving average is $40.93. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 9.31%. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is currently 78.76%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,680.51. This represents a 98.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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.