Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Raises Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE – Get Rating) by 16.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 113,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,649 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,648,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $75,615,000 after purchasing an additional 86,132 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 10.1% in the 1st quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 10,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $461,000 after acquiring an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 26.5% in the 1st quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $415,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 51.0% in the 1st quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 618,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,355,000 after purchasing an additional 208,803 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $577,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 81.80% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE opened at $42.59 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $24.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.45, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 0.45. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.32 and a 1 year high of $48.85. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $40.47 and a 200 day moving average price of $39.44.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.79 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.77 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.14 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.76% and a net margin of 10.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.82 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 7th will be given a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 6th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 71.23%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on FE shares. Guggenheim cut their target price on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $34.00 in a research note on Monday, October 24th. KeyCorp cut their target price on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 20th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, October 12th. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, December 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 15th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.25.

FirstEnergy Profile

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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, natural gas, wind, and solar power generating facilities.