Voloridge Investment Management LLC Boosts Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 44.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,174,454 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 360,592 shares during the quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned about 0.20% of FirstEnergy worth $46,720,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on FE shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.3%

FE opened at $42.72 on Wednesday. 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.05 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.61.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 94.68%.

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.