Sciencast Management LP Grows Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Sciencast Management LP increased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 20.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,419 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 12,939 shares during the quarter. FirstEnergy makes up 0.8% of Sciencast Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Sciencast Management LP's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,040,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its position in 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. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of FE traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $38.44. The stock had a trading volume of 5,134,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,153,958. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.22. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

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FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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%. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.63%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.00.

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.