FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Acquired by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 617,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 30,769 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.11% of FirstEnergy worth $27,398,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 34.2% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 7,731 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $299,000 after buying an additional 1,969 shares in the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 51.6% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 16,129 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $623,000 after buying an additional 5,488 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 2.1% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 448,145 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,308,000 after purchasing an additional 9,148 shares during the period. Qsemble Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth about $379,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 9,258 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 780 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.8 %

FE traded down $0.33 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.17. 2,024,224 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,943,215. The firm has a market cap of $23.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a P/E/G ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.41 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $43.31 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.31.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.00.

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.