Wealthfront Advisers LLC Buys Shares of 265,856 FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Wealthfront Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 265,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,639,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at about $26,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 507.9% during the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 148.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FE shares. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. New Street Research set a $52.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.83.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $47.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.46. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $47.91 and a 200 day moving average of $48.32. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 12 month low of $42.72 and a 12 month high of $52.34.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a $0.465 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.9%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 98.94%.

FirstEnergy Profile

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.