Huber Capital Management LLC Sells 8,606 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Huber Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 33.0% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 17,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,606 shares during the period. Huber Capital Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of FE. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.2% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 146,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,530,000 after purchasing an additional 7,215 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 17.5% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 61,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,736,000 after acquiring an additional 9,200 shares in the last quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 49.4% during the third quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 18,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $805,000 after acquiring an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 14.4% during the third quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 7,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares in the last quarter. Finally, IHT Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. IHT Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,531 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $468,000 after purchasing an additional 1,187 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.5 %

FE opened at $40.60 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.93 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.05. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $36.81 and a fifty-two 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. On average, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.71%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have weighed in on FE shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised 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. KeyCorp dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy 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.