Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 30,769 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 5.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 617,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying 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 SEC.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FE. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $104,057,000 after buying an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,154,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 52.7% during the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 87,811 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,361,000 after acquiring an additional 30,309 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $596,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,406 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $8,267,000 after purchasing an additional 26,874 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of FirstEnergy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upgraded FirstEnergy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective 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, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.16 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.89. 819,612 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,919,029. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $41.69 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.64. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $35.41 and a one year high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

About FirstEnergy

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.