Oakworth Capital Inc. Boosts Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Oakworth Capital Inc. raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 11,111.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,027 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Meeder Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after buying an additional 257 shares in the last quarter. MGO One Seven LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.7% in the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $220,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.2% in the first quarter. Snowden Capital Advisors LLC now owns 13,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $530,000 after buying an additional 287 shares in the last quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.3% in the second quarter. United Capital Financial Advisers LLC now owns 13,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $515,000 after buying an additional 292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Cornell Pochily Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 17,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $609,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the topic of several research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.38.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 1.7 %

NYSE FE opened at $37.45 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $32.18 and a 52 week high of $41.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.69 and a beta of 0.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $36.92.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 90.61%.

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.