Decade Renewable Partners LP Makes New $4.93 Million Investment in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Decade Renewable Partners LP acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 123,900 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,929,000. FirstEnergy makes up approximately 2.4% of Decade Renewable Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:FE traded up $0.40 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $43.15. The company had a trading volume of 3,779,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,579,839. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.70. The stock has a market cap of $24.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.84, 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. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $44.97.

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

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders 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 4.13%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average 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.