FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC

BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC cut its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 194,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 97,996 shares during the period. FirstEnergy accounts for approximately 0.8% of BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $7,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. MML Investors Services LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. MML Investors Services LLC now owns 25,411 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,059 shares during the last quarter. Coldstream Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $267,000. Toronto Dominion Bank grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 43.7% in the 3rd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 223,828 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,927,000 after buying an additional 68,111 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.6% during the 3rd quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 10,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after acquiring an additional 382 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 21.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 26,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,108,000 after acquiring an additional 4,682 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FE. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank dropped their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.17.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:FE opened at $40.59 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.81 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.39%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.71%.

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.