MetLife Investment Management LLC Has $5.96 Million Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

MetLife Investment Management LLC lessened its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 3.4% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 134,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,801 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $5,960,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after purchasing an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.0% in the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,557,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $136,152,000 after purchasing an additional 69,512 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,725,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,288,000 after buying an additional 193,540 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,896,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,570,000 after acquiring an additional 104,253 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,622,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,960,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.2 %

FE opened at $42.55 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $35.41 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $42.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.53. The stock has a market cap of $24.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.45, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 0.51. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. FirstEnergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Argus upgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.91.

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.