FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. reduced its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 289,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 45,968 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. owned 0.05% of FirstEnergy worth $11,518,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 171,955 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 14,129 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at $664,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 16.8% in the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,267,000 after purchasing an additional 26,874 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $40.05 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.15. The company has a market cap of $23.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. 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 one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.44%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.71%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average 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.