Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Buys New Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 10,552 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $420,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,198,000. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 56.0% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 48,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,933,000 after purchasing an additional 17,506 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 14,129 shares during the period. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $664,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 6,689.2% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 10,727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after purchasing an additional 10,569 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of FE stock traded up $0.18 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $42.91. 554,535 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,578,215. The stock has a market cap of $24.77 billion, a PE ratio of 27.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $40.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate 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. 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 is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is 94.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FE. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Mizuho set a $43.00 price target on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus 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.