FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Bought by International Assets Investment Management LLC

International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2,627.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 212,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 204,724 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $7,791,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after acquiring an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $220,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.2% during the 1st quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $530,000 after acquiring an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 13,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $515,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $609,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.22.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.6 %

FE opened at $37.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.60 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $36.87. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $32.18 and a 1-year high of $41.42. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. Analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.61%.

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.