Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. Has $78,000 Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 178.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $78,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FE. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 109,571 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,859,000 after buying an additional 5,535 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 89,511 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 7.9% in the 3rd 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 valued at $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. Finally, Ascent Group LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 38,865 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,724,000 after buying an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports 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 research report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group lifted 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, March 21st. Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim reduced their target price 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, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $40.43 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $39.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.09. The firm has a market cap of $23.32 billion, a PE ratio of 26.09, 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 Corp. has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. As a group, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 104.71%.

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.