Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $3.99 Million Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 5.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 100,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,522 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,994,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the 3rd 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 valued at $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at $1,154,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 14,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $664,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $39.62 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average is $39.95 and its 200 day moving average is $41.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $36.81 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 104.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

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.