O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC Buys 1,419 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 35,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,419 shares during the quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,400,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on FE shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group increased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $39.38 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.81 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.00.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. Research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.52%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

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.