Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC Buys New Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 466,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $18,570,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC owned about 0.08% of FirstEnergy as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of FE. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $420,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 58.4% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,248,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $49,597,000 after acquiring an additional 460,522 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 187,844 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $7,473,000 after purchasing an additional 6,019 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 11.3% during the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 40,659 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,617,000 after purchasing an additional 4,115 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 136,860 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,444,000 after acquiring an additional 2,475 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE FE traded up $0.05 on Thursday, hitting $42.93. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,920,488 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,401,526. The firm has a market cap of $24.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.67, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $40.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.71. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.55 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on FE shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho set a $43.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.00.

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.