Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Purchases 50,363 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 15.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 381,181 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 50,363 shares during the quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. owned about 0.07% of FirstEnergy worth $15,163,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FE. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 586 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.17.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 2.6 %

FE stock traded up $1.07 during trading on Friday, hitting $41.87. The company had a trading volume of 8,445,299 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,480,434. The stock has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a PE ratio of 27.01, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.99 and a 200-day moving average of $40.69. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 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 firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is currently 104.71%.

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.