FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL reduced its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,470 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,133 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,729,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd raised its position in FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in 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 acquiring an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank lowered 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. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. UBS Group upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.17.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $41.87 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.73.

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

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.71%.

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.