Sterling Capital Management LLC Buys 12,053 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 54.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 34,127 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 12,053 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,358,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

FirstEnergy Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE FE traded up $1.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $41.87. The stock had a trading volume of 8,445,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,480,434. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The firm has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $39.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.71.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current 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. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.71%.

FirstEnergy Company 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.