World Investment Advisors Invests $398,000 in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

World Investment Advisors bought a new position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund bought 9,993 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $398,000.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report 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 report on Friday, March 21st. One 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.17.

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FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.6 %

FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $40.85. The stock had a trading volume of 393,536 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,431,208. The company has a market cap of $23.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.36, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The business's 50 day moving average price is $39.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.79. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.81 and a 52 week high of $44.97. 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 (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 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 analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is a positive change 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.36%. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is presently 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.