BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Increases Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 25.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 12,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,458 shares during the quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $448,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 327.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the third quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the third quarter worth $45,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $39.14 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $40.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $38.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.62.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 8.22%. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 97.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.80.

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.