Nordea Investment Management AB Cuts Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Nordea Investment Management AB decreased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 25,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 602 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,013,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in FE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after buying an additional 457,231 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,081,000 after buying an additional 34,151 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,725,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,288,000 after buying an additional 193,540 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,057,000 after buying an additional 171,955 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,896,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,570,000 after buying an additional 104,253 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 2.6 %

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $38.75 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.74 and a 200 day moving average of $41.74. The firm has a market cap of $22.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.41 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.68%.

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.