Commonwealth Equity Services LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 14.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 105,519 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 13,549 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,198,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 10.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,421 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 881 shares during the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 34,555 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,533,000 after purchasing an additional 768 shares during the last quarter. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $590,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.6% in the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 86,553 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,839,000 after acquiring an additional 5,390 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 17.1% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 99,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,426,000 after purchasing an additional 14,606 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
FirstEnergy Trading Up 2.4 %
FE stock traded up $0.93 during trading on Thursday, hitting $39.41. 6,893,833 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,172,988. 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 50-day moving average of $39.90 and a 200-day moving average of $41.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.81 and a 1 year high of $44.97.
FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. Analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
FirstEnergy Increases Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is presently 104.71%.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of research analysts recently weighed in on FE shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.00.
View Our Latest Stock Report on FirstEnergy
About FirstEnergy
(
Free Report)
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.
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