FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by PFG Investments LLC

PFG Investments LLC reduced its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 10.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 18,148 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,220 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,517,000 after purchasing an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position 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 worth $104,057,000 after acquiring an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,622,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,960,000 after acquiring an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service grew its position in FirstEnergy by 2.1% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 854,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $37,906,000 after acquiring an additional 17,462 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 1.2 %

NYSE FE opened at $39.72 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.89 billion, a PE ratio of 25.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $35.41 and a one year high of $44.97. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $40.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $41.83. 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 posted its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

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.