Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 3.6% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 617,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 21,293 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $28,311,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 186.4% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank & Trust boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 380.2% in the 3rd quarter. American National Bank & Trust now owns 581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares in the last quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 187.5% during the 3rd quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp lowered FirstEnergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, December 29th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.85.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.7%

Shares of FE stock opened at $46.68 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $48.20. The stock has a market cap of $26.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $45.59 and a 200 day moving average of $45.08. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 77.73%.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company’s primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid‑Atlantic. FirstEnergy’s service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy’s core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.