FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Stephens Inc. AR

Stephens Inc. AR trimmed its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,090 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $302,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.3% in 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 acquiring an additional 457,231 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the third 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. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,622,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,960,000 after buying an additional 5,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.0% in the 4th quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 1,305,644 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,939,000 after buying an additional 85,514 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $40.04 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.83 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.81. The company has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.52. 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 $36.01 and a one year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FE shares. Scotiabank upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. KeyCorp reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

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.