FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Stock Holdings Increased by Meeder Asset Management Inc.

Meeder Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,116 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Meeder Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $124,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,309,000 after buying an additional 6,991,866 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 103.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,334,000 after acquiring an additional 939,240 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $30,069,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,619,270,000 after purchasing an additional 508,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $12,198,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $40.40 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $39.91 and its 200-day moving average is $41.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company has a market cap of $23.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.07, 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.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 104.71%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp lowered 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. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average 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.