Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Has $4.43 Million Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 17.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 99,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,606 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,426,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Boston Partners increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.3% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,517,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $367,423,000 after buying an additional 218,165 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after acquiring an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.0% in the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,557,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,152,000 after acquiring an additional 69,512 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 7.6% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,725,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,288,000 after purchasing an additional 193,540 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,896,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,570,000 after purchasing an additional 104,253 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $41.79 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.44. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $35.41 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The firm has a market cap of $24.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.96, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51.

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 firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average 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.