11,272 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Acquired by Blueshift Asset Management LLC

Blueshift Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 11,272 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $448,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $104,057,000 after buying an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,154,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 14,129 shares during the period. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at $664,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on FE. UBS Group raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.00.

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FirstEnergy Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of NYSE FE traded down $1.05 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $37.95. 6,010,084 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,128,880. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.26. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.81 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.89 billion, a PE ratio of 24.48, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

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

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

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.