FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Stake Lifted by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 208.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 315,204 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 212,992 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned approximately 0.05% of FirstEnergy worth $12,539,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in FirstEnergy by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.0 %

FE stock opened at $43.09 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.65. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

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.