Magellan Asset Management Ltd Acquires 36,562 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 9.1% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 439,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,562 shares during the quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd owned 0.08% of FirstEnergy worth $17,072,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,214,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,128,322,000 after purchasing an additional 4,443,050 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth $138,188,000. Zimmer Partners LP increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 113.3% in the first quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 2,735,311 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $109,577,000 after acquiring an additional 1,452,663 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 13.2% during the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 11,744,900 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $470,512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 155.1% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,097,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,550,000 after purchasing an additional 1,275,405 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 82.34% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:FE traded down $0.09 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $37.34. 620,115 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,654,031. The company has a current ratio of 0.53, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.09. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $35.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.14. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $43.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.79 and a beta of 0.47.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $3.50 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.54 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 4.06% and a return on equity of 12.93%. FirstEnergy’s revenue for the quarter was up .7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.79 EPS. Analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 7th. Shareholders of record on Friday, December 1st were issued a $0.41 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, November 6th. This represents a $1.64 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 205.00%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. TheStreet cut FirstEnergy from a “b” rating to a “c+” rating in a report on Friday, August 4th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $44.00 to $42.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $37.00 to $35.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, October 10th. UBS Group lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $45.00 to $40.00 in a research note on Monday, August 7th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $44.00 to $41.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.00.

About FirstEnergy

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.