Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $65.27 Million Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 118.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,640,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 888,800 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned approximately 0.28% of FirstEnergy worth $65,271,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,619,270,000 after buying an additional 508,570 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $656,309,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,866 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,527,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $497,009,000 after purchasing an additional 329,049 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $371,911,000 after purchasing an additional 220,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings 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. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FE traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $41.20. 866,282 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,434,632. The company has a market cap of $23.76 billion, a PE ratio of 26.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $36.81 and a twelve month high of $44.97. 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 $39.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.77.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.17.

FirstEnergy 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.