Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Buys Shares of 86,810 FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 86,810 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $4,172,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 11,305.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,974,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,699,000 after acquiring an additional 1,957,673 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 42.8% in the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 85,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after buying an additional 25,571 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6,066.6% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 495,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,547,000 after buying an additional 487,267 shares in the last quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $15,172,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth approximately $9,878,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on FE shares. Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. Barclays decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. TD Cowen upgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered FirstEnergy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.83.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE FE opened at $45.84 on Monday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $47.88 and its 200 day moving average price is $48.30. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 12 month low of $42.87 and a 12 month high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $26.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.52 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.465 dividend. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 98.94%.

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.