ING Groep NV Purchases New Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

ING Groep NV acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 43,211 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,719,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $371,911,000 after purchasing an additional 220,433 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,622,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $71,960,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,305,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,939,000 after buying an additional 85,514 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $42.34 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.01 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $39.89 and a 200-day moving average of $41.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FE. KeyCorp cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

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.