FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Bought by Everence Capital Management Inc.

Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 50.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,830 shares during the quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $571,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 6.2% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,897 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $433,000 after acquiring an additional 634 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 617,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,398,000 after purchasing an additional 30,769 shares during the last quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 33,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,479,000 after purchasing an additional 4,503 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 361.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 24,834 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,101,000 after buying an additional 19,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $39.92 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company’s 50 day moving average is $41.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.66. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $35.41 and a 52 week 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.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Scotiabank upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

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.