Boston Partners Purchases 6,991,866 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 73.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares during the period. FirstEnergy accounts for approximately 0.8% of Boston Partners’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Boston Partners’ holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $656,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Apollon Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth $205,000. Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.3% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 40,331 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,789,000 after purchasing an additional 10,073 shares during the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.5% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 76,488 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,392,000 after acquiring an additional 5,306 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE opened at $39.84 on Tuesday. 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 firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.42. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.81 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a PE ratio of 25.70, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

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

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.