Andra AP fonden Decreases Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Andra AP fonden lowered its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 67.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,700 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 49,900 shares during the period. Andra AP fonden’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $943,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,069,000. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,198,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,911,000 after buying an additional 220,433 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.9% in 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 buying an additional 171,955 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 95.3% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 323,079 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,852,000 after buying an additional 157,666 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on FE. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target 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. Finally, Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $38.54 on Monday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.81 and a 52-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. The company has a market capitalization of $22.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a fifty day moving average of $39.98 and a 200-day moving average of $41.60.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th were given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 100.00%.

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.