Private Capital Management LLC Boosts Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Private Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 700 shares during the period. Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $696,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FE. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $12,198,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,911,000 after acquiring an additional 220,433 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,445.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 219,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,732,000 after purchasing an additional 214,606 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.9% in the 3rd 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 worth $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 95.3% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 323,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,852,000 after purchasing an additional 157,666 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $38.68 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.01 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.29 billion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.09 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.77.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. As a group, analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

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.