FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Acquired by Comerica Bank

Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 20.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,255 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 24,954 shares during the quarter. Comerica Bank's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $5,898,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FE. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $153,081,000 after buying an additional 34,151 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 5.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 617,768 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $27,398,000 after purchasing an additional 30,769 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,897 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 634 shares in the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 50.7% during the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,360 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 4,830 shares during the period. Finally, Pensionfund Sabic grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 29.1% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 35,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,412,000 after buying an additional 8,000 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.9 %

FirstEnergy stock opened at $43.15 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.84, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.66.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during 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 company's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.13%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on FE. Mizuho set a $43.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Bank of America upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their target price 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 issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.00.

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.

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