FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Holdings Decreased by Magellan Asset Management Ltd

Magellan Asset Management Ltd lessened its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 421,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 71,925 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $16,778,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,309,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,866 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 103.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,334,000 after buying an additional 939,240 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,069,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,619,270,000 after buying an additional 508,570 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 2.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,527,440 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $497,009,000 after purchasing an additional 329,049 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $40.60 on Thursday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.05. The company has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. Sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on FE. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

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.