Quantinno Capital Management LP Purchases 21,702 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Quantinno Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 37.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 79,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 21,702 shares during the quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,174,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,299,514.57. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $42.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.60. 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 Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 94.68%.

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.