Wedge Capital Management L L P NC Has $11.52 Million Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Wedge Capital Management L L P NC lessened its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 16.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 314,239 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 61,172 shares during the quarter. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $11,520,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 27.3% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,018,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,810,000 after acquiring an additional 218,439 shares during the period. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the period. Comerica Bank increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 11,260.9% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 137,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,703,000 after purchasing an additional 136,370 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 26,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $899,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 447.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 372,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 304,000 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:FE traded up $0.11 on Tuesday, hitting $38.32. 157,320 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,335,151. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.38. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $41.17. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.74 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.05.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.44%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 90.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com downgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.33.

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.