Raymond James Financial Inc. Acquires New Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 755,887 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $30,069,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned 0.13% of FirstEnergy at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.7% during the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Quarry LP increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $205,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,819 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $231,000 after buying an additional 340 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on FE shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.33.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $39.79. 4,587,631 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,072,730. The company has a market cap of $22.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $44.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $39.91 and a 200 day moving average of $41.47.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.