22,817 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Purchased by GSA Capital Partners LLP

GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 22,817 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,012,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 14.3% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 77,928,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,009,615,000 after purchasing an additional 9,773,785 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.3% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,517,314 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $367,423,000 after acquiring an additional 218,165 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $403,517,000 after acquiring an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,557,667 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $136,152,000 after acquiring an additional 69,512 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.6% during the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,725,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $104,288,000 after purchasing an additional 193,540 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Argus raised FirstEnergy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $41.51. 4,002,076 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,957,772. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.12 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.32. The company has a market cap of $23.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.78, a PEG ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 0.51.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

FirstEnergy Company 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.