Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. Purchases 2,357 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 8.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 28,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,357 shares during the quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,275,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,317,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,422,000 after buying an additional 42,484 shares in the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 52.7% during the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 87,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,361,000 after purchasing an additional 30,309 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $596,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 1,088,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $41,667,000 after purchasing an additional 24,512 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 854,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,906,000 after buying an additional 17,462 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $41.80 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.97, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $35.41 and a one year high of $44.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $42.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on FE shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

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.