Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Increases Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 5.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 457,231 shares during the quarter. FirstEnergy makes up about 0.6% of Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned about 1.58% of FirstEnergy worth $403,517,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OLD National Bancorp IN bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 303.6% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 4,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $184,000 after buying an additional 3,115 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth $206,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 55,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,450,000 after purchasing an additional 1,133 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.4 %

FE stock traded up $0.17 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.66. 2,096,770 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,227,881. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $34.73 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $43.53 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.74. The stock has a market cap of $25.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 97.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on FE. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.91.

FirstEnergy 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.