FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Purchased by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 24.9% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 472,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 94,035 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $18,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.5 %

FirstEnergy stock opened at $40.05 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.13. The stock has a market cap of $23.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.81 and a 52 week high of $44.97. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for 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%. On average, 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on FE. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank cut 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. One 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.