AHL Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

AHL Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 22,415 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. AHL Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FE. Covestor Ltd increased its position in FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 183 shares in the company, valued at $7,680.51. This trade represents a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.2%

FirstEnergy stock opened at $40.65 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $23.46 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.40. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $40.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $48.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

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.