10,409 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Purchased by AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 10,409 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $414,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,334,000 after buying an additional 939,240 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,069,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,619,270,000 after buying an additional 508,570 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,198,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock opened at $39.41 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $39.89 and its 200 day moving average is $41.18. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.81 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Research analysts predict 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp decreased their target price 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. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

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.