Smartleaf Asset Management LLC Grows Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 19.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at $1,154,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after buying an additional 14,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $664,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research lowered 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 $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $38.23 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $40.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.65. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $36.81 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.45%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

FirstEnergy Company 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.