Renaissance Technologies LLC Has $65.27 Million Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 118.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,640,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 888,800 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $65,271,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in FE. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 17.5% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 61,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,736,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 14.4% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 23.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 58,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,576,000 after acquiring an additional 11,220 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 181,825 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,064,000 after acquiring an additional 6,113 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 3.0 %

NYSE:FE opened at $39.47 on Thursday. 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 $22.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.85. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued 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). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.51%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Scotiabank cut 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 report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.15.

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.