246,082 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Purchased by ExodusPoint Capital Management LP

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm bought 246,082 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $9,789,000.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FE. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of 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 objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $39.38 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $39.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.02. 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 Corp. has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 104.71%.

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.