Everstar Asset Management LLC Increases Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Everstar Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 7.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 780 shares during the quarter. Everstar Asset Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $438,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted 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 acquiring an additional 508,570 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 220,433 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,402,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,334,000 after buying an additional 105,408 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $40.05 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.11. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.81 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. On average, equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS 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 paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.71%.

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.