Cibc World Markets Corp Acquires 9,450 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Cibc World Markets Corp raised its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 82,504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,450 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,282,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Amundi boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 103.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,334,000 after acquiring an additional 939,240 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $30,069,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $12,198,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.4% in 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 during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.9% in the third 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 purchasing an additional 171,955 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of FE stock opened at $39.80 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. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.81 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. On average, equities analysts predict 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 paid a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on FE shares. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.17.

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.