BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 36.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 48,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,774 shares during the period. BTG Pactual Global Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,870,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Clear Street Markets LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 549.0% during the fourth quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. Certified Advisory Corp purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. MUFG Americas Holdings Corp purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the third quarter worth approximately $32,000. KB Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth approximately $34,000. Finally, Neo Ivy Capital Management purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on FE shares. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, October 10th. UBS Group lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research report on Monday, August 7th. TheStreet downgraded FirstEnergy from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Finally, StockNews.com raised FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, October 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $40.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.14 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $37.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,294,753 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,230,974. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $32.18 and a fifty-two week high of $43.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $35.63 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.33 billion, a PE ratio of 46.48 and a beta of 0.47.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Friday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.85 by $0.03. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.93% and a net margin of 4.06%. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.79 earnings per share. FirstEnergy’s quarterly revenue was up .7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 7th. Stockholders of record on Friday, December 1st were given a $0.41 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 6th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 205.00%.

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.