Bank of Hawaii Increases Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Bank of Hawaii grew its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 16.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,206 shares during the period. Bank of Hawaii’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $903,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,619,270,000 after purchasing an additional 508,570 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,309,000 after buying an additional 6,991,866 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,527,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $497,009,000 after purchasing an additional 329,049 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 220,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,081,000 after acquiring an additional 34,151 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on FE. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price 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. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.15.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $39.47 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.81 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.86 and a 200-day moving average of $40.85. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.