Verdence Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 13,743 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 125.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,694 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 13,743 shares during the quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $994,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 14.2% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 71,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,883,000 after purchasing an additional 8,879 shares during the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.8% in the first quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,983 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 9.0% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 17,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 1,464 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $256,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,664,698 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $107,707,000 after purchasing an additional 21,177 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. KeyCorp cut shares of FirstEnergy from an "overweight" rating to a "sector weight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, September 25th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup started coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $53.00 price target on the stock. Finally, UBS Group set a $44.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.83.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $47.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.44 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $47.66. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $44.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $42.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.51.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.31%. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 78.76%.

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.

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