HighTower Advisors LLC Grows Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 154,920 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 7,938 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $6,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FE. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% during the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the 4th 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. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FE. Scotiabank decreased their price objective 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. UBS Group upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Guggenheim decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.00.

Remove Ads

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock traded down $0.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $39.62. 7,459,337 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,121,274. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The firm's fifty day moving average is $39.95 and its 200-day moving average is $41.34. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.81 and a 52 week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. Research analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 104.71%.

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.