FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 424,864 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 6,847 shares during the period. FirstEnergy makes up approximately 0.9% of Heartland Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.07% of FirstEnergy worth $16,901,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of FE. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on FE shares. Guggenheim cut their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective 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. KeyCorp cut their target price 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. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 2.4 %

NYSE FE opened at $39.41 on Friday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $39.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.18. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.81 and a 1-year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.71%.

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.