Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 6.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,254 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,847 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,732,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,827,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $540,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,756,228 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,573,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $463,950,000 after buying an additional 407,350 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,848,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $324,380,000 after buying an additional 272,478 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 5,543,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $189,473,000 after buying an additional 92,561 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.2% in the 3rd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,828,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,867,000 after buying an additional 44,031 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on FE shares. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.33.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $38.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $41.17. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.74 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. 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 4.45%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.61%.

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.