Xponance Inc. Trims Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Xponance Inc. lowered its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 3.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,589 shares during the quarter. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,456,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 327.3% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the period. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at $45,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth about $53,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on FE. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.33.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of FE opened at $38.21 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $41.17. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.74 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.45%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 90.61%.

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.