Titleist Asset Management LLC Acquires New Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Titleist Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 15,161 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $607,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fund Management at Engine No. 1 LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $251,000. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its position in FirstEnergy by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after acquiring an additional 529 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 91.8% during the first quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 57,522 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,304,000 after purchasing an additional 27,529 shares in the last quarter. Versor Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Finally, Quadrant Capital Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 101.3% in the fourth quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 4,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $191,000 after purchasing an additional 2,294 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $37.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group downgraded FirstEnergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, August 7th. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $44.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $43.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Finally, TheStreet cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $41.40.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $36.16 on Thursday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $34.69 and a 12 month high of $43.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.77, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.07, a current ratio of 0.60 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $37.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $38.60.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.46 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.01 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.89 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.41% and a net margin of 3.55%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Monday, August 7th were issued a $0.39 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 4th. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.31%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 197.47%.

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.