FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Purchased by United Asset Strategies Inc.

United Asset Strategies Inc. raised its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 46,474 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 560 shares during the quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE opened at $39.18 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.52. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.35 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.82. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $35.41 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Company 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.