Schroder Investment Management Group Has $1.93 Million Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Schroder Investment Management Group raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 56.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,506 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,933,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FE. Boston Partners lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in FirstEnergy by 103.8% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $73,334,000 after buying an additional 939,240 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,069,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,619,270,000 after acquiring an additional 508,570 shares during the period. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $12,198,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.50 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $40.59. 4,344,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,437,173. The company has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.87 and a 200 day moving average of $40.81. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.81 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

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FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is 104.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Scotiabank lowered their price target 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. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.17.

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.