Envestnet Asset Management Inc. Boosts Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE – Get Rating) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 354,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,362 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $16,273,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CENTRAL TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 10.7% in the first quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 2,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 11,199 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $466,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 37,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,726,000 after purchasing an additional 308 shares in the last quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 17.1% in the fourth quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 331 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.5% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 22,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.78% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $38.75 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.32 and a 1 year high of $48.85. The firm has a market cap of $22.14 billion, a PE ratio of 15.75, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.84, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.66. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $38.91 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.86.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 11.78% and a return on equity of 15.13%. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.59 earnings per share. Analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 5th will be paid a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 4th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 63.41%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FE. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $49.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 21st. Credit Suisse Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, April 25th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $51.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $44.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.25.

About FirstEnergy

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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, natural gas, wind, and solar power generating facilities.