Smith Group Asset Management LLC Takes $318,000 Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Smith Group Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 8,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $318,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1,417.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 743,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,965,000 after purchasing an additional 694,313 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,517,000 after buying an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,198,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4,445.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 219,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,732,000 after acquiring an additional 214,606 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the third 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 acquiring an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of FE opened at $39.72 on Thursday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $35.41 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The company’s fifty day moving average is $40.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.83. The firm has a market cap of $22.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

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.