FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Stake Increased by Sei Investments Co.

Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 14.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 917,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 112,624 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.16% of FirstEnergy worth $36,504,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.3 %

FE opened at $39.03 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $39.94 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market cap of $22.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 104.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FE. UBS Group boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

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.