Mariner LLC Acquires 13,196 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 95,039 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 13,196 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,781,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,198,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 48,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,933,000 after buying an additional 17,506 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after buying an additional 14,129 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $664,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 6,689.2% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 10,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $427,000 after acquiring an additional 10,569 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock opened at $41.78 on Tuesday. 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $40.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.68. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 104.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FE. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.17.

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.