Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Grows Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 844,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 81,402 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $33,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in shares of 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 worth $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 14,129 shares in the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $664,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 16.8% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,267,000 after purchasing an additional 26,874 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $40.05 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.81 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.13.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 104.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their price target 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. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

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.