SpiderRock Advisors LLC Has $2.17 Million Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

SpiderRock Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 386 shares during the quarter. SpiderRock Advisors LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,171,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Balanced Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 4.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after purchasing an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock traded down $0.17 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $41.56. The company had a trading volume of 556,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,942,362. The company has a market capitalization of $23.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.43. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $34.92 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $43.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.14.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on FE shares. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp., through its subsidiaries, generates, transmits, and distributes electricity in the United States. It operates through Regulated Distribution and Regulated Transmission segments. The company owns and operates coal-fired, nuclear, hydroelectric, wind, and solar power generating facilities.