Natixis Advisors LLC Has $5.32 Million Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Natixis Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,695 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,754 shares during the quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $5,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. 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 report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp cut their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE FE opened at $39.62 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $44.97. The business’s fifty day moving average is $39.95 and its 200-day moving average is $41.34. The stock has a market capitalization 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 (NYSE:FE) last announced 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). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This is a boost 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 payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.