FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Prudential Financial Inc.

Prudential Financial Inc. cut its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 13.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 289,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 45,968 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $11,518,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 59.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,000 after buying an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.0% in the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $40.05 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.89 and its 200-day moving average is $41.15. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.81 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted 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 return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.44%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on 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 raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock 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.