Park Avenue Securities LLC Sells 881 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Park Avenue Securities LLC decreased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 30,850 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 881 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,227,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $403,517,000 after buying an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares in the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 7.6% in the second quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,725,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,288,000 after purchasing an additional 193,540 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,896,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $72,570,000 after purchasing an additional 104,253 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FE. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE opened at $39.92 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $35.41 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $40.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.76.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (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 company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

FirstEnergy Company 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.