HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Acquires 433 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,170 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of FE stock opened at $40.60 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.81 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.93 and its 200 day moving average is $41.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.38%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on FE. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy 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.