273,837 FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Shares Bought by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 2,453.1% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 285,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 273,837 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $12,349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Western Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $37,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Ascentis Independent Advisors acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter worth $46,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.3%

FE opened at $46.95 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $27.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.43. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $45.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.50. FirstEnergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $42.67 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.4650 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 89.42%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on FE shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 19th. New Street Research set a $47.00 price target on FirstEnergy in a research note on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is an electric utility company focused on the transmission and distribution of electricity. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the poles, lines, substations and other infrastructure that support electric service.

FirstEnergy’s distribution operations serve customers across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland. Its utility companies include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Jersey Central Power & Light, Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn Power, Mon Power and The Potomac Edison Company.