755,887 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Purchased by Raymond James Financial Inc.

Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 755,887 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $30,069,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.13% of FirstEnergy as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $12,198,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,911,000 after buying an additional 220,433 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,057,000 after buying an additional 171,955 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in FirstEnergy by 95.3% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 323,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,852,000 after buying an additional 157,666 shares during the period. Finally, CIBC Asset Management Inc grew its position in FirstEnergy by 177.6% during the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 212,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,448,000 after buying an additional 135,870 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $39.79 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.81 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $39.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.48. The firm has a market cap of $22.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. 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 announced its 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 return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on FE. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.33.

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.