FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Acquired by Forsta AP Fonden

Forsta AP Fonden increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 9.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 143,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,900 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $5,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth about $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.9% in the third 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 purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,154,000. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $664,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,267,000 after buying an additional 26,874 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on FE shares. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $39.82 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.69, a PEG ratio of 1.98 and a beta of 0.52. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.22 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.80. 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 Corp. has a one year low of $35.41 and a one year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. FirstEnergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.27%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

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.