FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Acquired by Schroder Investment Management Group

Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 56.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 48,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 17,506 shares during the period. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,933,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,619,270,000 after purchasing an additional 508,570 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,309,000 after buying an additional 6,991,866 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,911,000 after buying an additional 220,433 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,081,000 after acquiring an additional 34,151 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,402,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,334,000 after acquiring an additional 105,408 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note 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. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $39.38 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.81 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.98. The company has a market capitalization of $22.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 104.71%.

FirstEnergy Company 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.