Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. Makes New $754,000 Investment in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 16,990 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $754,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the third quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. KeyCorp raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus upgraded FirstEnergy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. One 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 data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE stock traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $41.72. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,209,928 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,948,591. The firm's 50-day moving average is $43.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.26. The company has a market cap of $24.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $34.92 and a 1-year high of $44.97. 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 (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business's revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business 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 dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.68%.

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.