Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Increases Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 7.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 69,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,103 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Essex Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $39.15 on Friday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $39.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.50. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.81 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on FE. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.33.

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.