ING Groep NV Acquires Shares of 43,211 FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

ING Groep NV bought a new position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 43,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,719,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,911,000 after buying an additional 220,433 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,081,000 after acquiring an additional 34,151 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.9% during 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 last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,622,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,960,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,305,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,939,000 after purchasing an additional 85,514 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $42.34 on Monday. 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 cap of $24.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.32, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.89 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.77. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $36.01 and a one year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on FE. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. 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. Scotiabank upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

FirstEnergy 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.