Virtu Financial LLC Buys New Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 6,525 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $260,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.9% during 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 worth $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after buying an additional 14,129 shares in the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $664,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 16.8% during the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,267,000 after buying an additional 26,874 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $40.05 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.81 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $39.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.15. The company has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. 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 (DPR) is 104.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FE shares. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average 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.