Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 1,754 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Natixis Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.3% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 133,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,754 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $5,318,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Balanced Wealth Group LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 14.7% during the fourth quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 105,519 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,198,000 after buying an additional 13,549 shares during the period. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 18.5% during the fourth quarter. HBK Sorce Advisory LLC now owns 8,954 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $356,000 after buying an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 48,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,922,000 after buying an additional 6,357 shares during the period. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 18.0% during the fourth quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 389,285 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $15,486,000 after buying an additional 59,504 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $39.62 on Friday. 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 Corp. has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $44.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.34.

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 return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. As a group, analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.00%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on FE. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. One 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

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.