FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Shares Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 291,324 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,867 shares during the period. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund owned 0.05% of FirstEnergy worth $12,623,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FE. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Finally, GK Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $41,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.1%

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $46.53 on Thursday. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 12 month low of $42.67 and a 12 month high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 0.31 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.37, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50-day moving average of $45.52 and a 200-day moving average of $47.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.90 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $4.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 7.40% and a return on equity of 11.07%. FirstEnergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.83 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a $0.4650 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 89.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HSBC assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. They issued a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 12th. BMO Capital Markets initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 26th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $50.00 price target on the stock. New Street Research set a $47.00 price objective on FirstEnergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Mizuho set a $47.00 price objective on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. is an investor-owned electric utility holding company focused primarily on regulated electricity transmission and distribution. Through its utility subsidiaries, it delivers electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland. The company’s operations include maintaining local electric distribution networks and owning and operating high-voltage transmission infrastructure across portions of the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic.