Tower Research Capital LLC TRC Increases Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 40,659 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,115 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,617,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,619,270,000 after buying an additional 508,570 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,527,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $497,009,000 after purchasing an additional 329,049 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,911,000 after purchasing an additional 220,433 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on FE shares. Guggenheim increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price target for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock opened at $42.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $24.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $40.12 and its 200 day moving average is $40.70. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $44.97. 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 (NYSE:FE) last announced 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 $0.58 by $0.09. 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 the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. Research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.20%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

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.