Voloridge Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Voloridge Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 44.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,174,454 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 360,592 shares during the period. Voloridge Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.20% of FirstEnergy worth $46,720,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at FirstEnergy

In other FirstEnergy news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,299,514.57. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.12 on Monday, hitting $42.11. 4,250,831 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,693,801. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 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 the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.23%. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is presently 94.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price 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.