Sciencast Management LP Purchases 12,939 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Sciencast Management LP grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 20.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 76,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 12,939 shares during the period. FirstEnergy makes up 0.8% of Sciencast Management LP’s holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,040,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 55.7% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 17,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $678,000 after purchasing an additional 6,099 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $267,000. Blueshift Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $448,000. Finally, Sandy Spring Bank increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 2,036.6% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 2,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,000 after acquiring an additional 2,281 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE opened at $39.62 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG 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. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.34.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 104.71%.

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.