Pacer Advisors Inc. Trims Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Pacer Advisors Inc. reduced its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 22.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 98,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,357 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,909,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Balanced Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $39.73 on Friday. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average price is $40.27 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.81. The company has a market capitalization of $22.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on FE. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

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.