Signaturefd LLC Acquires 1,239 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Signaturefd LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 34.0% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,888 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,239 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,911,000 after acquiring an additional 220,433 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,081,000 after acquiring an additional 34,151 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,402,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,334,000 after acquiring an additional 105,408 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the 3rd 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 acquiring an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $73,334,000 after acquiring an additional 939,240 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $39.62 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. 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 $39.95 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.32.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. On average, equities analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share 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 paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 104.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank cut 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. Guggenheim cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.