Signaturefd LLC Raises Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 34.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares during the quarter. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $194,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FE. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,334,000 after buying an additional 939,240 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $30,069,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $12,198,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,911,000 after buying an additional 220,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,057,000 after buying an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE opened at $39.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.81 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted 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). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.49%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FE. 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. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank lowered 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

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.