Horizon Investments LLC Buys 336 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the quarter. Horizon Investments LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $287,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake 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 valued at $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,154,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in FirstEnergy by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 14,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth about $664,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.6 %

FE opened at $39.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.37. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $36.81 and a twelve 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 for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). The firm 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%. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Investors 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 4.47%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on FE. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.17.

FirstEnergy 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.