FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Bought by Czech National Bank

Czech National Bank increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 111,273 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 6,857 shares during the period. Czech National Bank's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,426,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in 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 worth $403,517,000 after buying an additional 457,231 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake 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 valued at $104,288,000 after purchasing an additional 193,540 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 7.9% in the third 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 valued at $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE traded up $0.86 during trading on Thursday, hitting $40.08. The stock had a trading volume of 2,881,555 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,712,496. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.86, a PEG ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.52. 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 twelve month low of $35.41 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company's 50-day moving average price is $40.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.73.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

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.