FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Purchased by Boston Partners

Boston Partners increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 73.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares during the period. FirstEnergy accounts for approximately 0.8% of Boston Partners’ portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest position. Boston Partners owned 2.86% of FirstEnergy worth $656,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Apollon Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $205,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 33.3% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 40,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 10,073 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 76,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,392,000 after purchasing an additional 5,306 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FE. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of 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 shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.33.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.0 %

FE stock opened at $39.84 on Tuesday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $22.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.92 and a 200-day moving average of $41.42. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $36.81 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.