United Capital Financial Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

United Capital Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 18,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $858,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the first quarter valued at $289,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 7.0% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 43,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $45.84 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $26.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $47.88 and its 200-day moving average price is $48.30. FirstEnergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $42.87 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.52 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.465 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.94%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings lowered FirstEnergy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. TD Cowen raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $56.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Friday, May 15th. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.83.

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.