Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. Increases Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 18.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 389,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,504 shares during the period. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $15,486,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $371,911,000 after purchasing an additional 220,433 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,402,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,334,000 after purchasing an additional 105,408 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in shares of 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 during the period. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 103.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,334,000 after purchasing an additional 939,240 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of FE opened at $38.26 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $39.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.52. The stock has a market cap of $22.06 billion, a PE ratio of 24.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Equities analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FE shares. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.33.

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.