Becker Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 777,300 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 11,265 shares during the quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. owned 0.13% of FirstEnergy worth $30,921,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $205,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FE shares. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Mizuho set a $43.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE opened at $43.13 on Wednesday. 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 Corp. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.69. The firm has a market cap of $24.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.83, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is 94.68%.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.