Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $2.88 Million Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 64,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,416 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.3% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,317,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,422,000 after purchasing an additional 42,484 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 52.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 87,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,361,000 after acquiring an additional 30,309 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $596,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 1,088,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,667,000 after acquiring an additional 24,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.1% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 854,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,906,000 after purchasing an additional 17,462 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $42.63 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.78 and a 200 day moving average of $41.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $35.41 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.50, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) 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. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FE. KeyCorp increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.91.

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.