Magellan Asset Management Ltd Increases Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 9.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 439,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 36,562 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $17,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 9.9% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 5,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $236,000 after purchasing an additional 529 shares during the period. State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 149,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,818,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the second quarter worth $357,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth $272,000. Finally, Arete Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at $473,000. 82.34% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE traded down $0.09 on Tuesday, reaching $37.34. The company had a trading volume of 620,115 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,654,031. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $43.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.43 billion, a PE ratio of 46.79 and a beta of 0.47. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $35.66 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.14.

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

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 7th. Investors of record on Friday, December 1st were given a $0.41 dividend. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date was Monday, November 6th. This represents a $1.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 205.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on FE shares. StockNews.com raised FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, October 30th. UBS Group cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $45.00 to $40.00 in a report on Monday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 12th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $44.00 to $38.00 in a research report on Monday, October 9th. Finally, TheStreet downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a research note on Friday, August 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

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.