Sciencast Management LP Purchases 12,939 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Sciencast Management LP raised its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 76,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,939 shares during the period. FirstEnergy comprises 0.8% of Sciencast Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Sciencast Management LP’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,040,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Boston Partners increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,911,000 after buying an additional 220,433 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,081,000 after acquiring an additional 34,151 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,057,000 after acquiring an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $39.62 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $39.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.34. The firm has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a PEG 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 Corp. has a 1 year low of $36.81 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued 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). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. 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 research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. One investment 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

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.