Private Capital Management LLC Has $936,000 Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Private Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 49.9% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,827 shares during the quarter. Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $936,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,619,270,000 after purchasing an additional 508,570 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,309,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,866 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,527,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $497,009,000 after acquiring an additional 329,049 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,911,000 after acquiring an additional 220,433 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 4,606,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $183,257,000 after acquiring an additional 276,241 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock opened at $41.25 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.75 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.62. The stock has a market cap of $23.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year 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) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company 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 is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FE shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Insider Activity

In other FirstEnergy news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

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.