Clarius Group LLC Buys 623 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Clarius Group LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,744 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 623 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $262,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in FE. Clear Street Markets LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 549.0% during the 4th quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 549 shares in the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at about $34,000. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 4,805.3% in the 1st quarter. Nelson Van Denburg & Campbell Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 932 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE opened at $37.18 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.53. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $35.63 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.18. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $32.18 and a 52-week high of $43.31. The company has a market cap of $21.33 billion, a PE ratio of 46.48 and a beta of 0.47.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.03. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 12.93%. The firm had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.79 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st were paid a dividend of $0.41 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 6th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 205.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 12th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $44.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, October 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.00.

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.