FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Stock Position Lessened by AlphaQuest LLC

AlphaQuest LLC cut its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 3.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 88,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,078 shares during the quarter. FirstEnergy makes up 0.5% of AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FE. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Cedar Mountain Advisors LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $38.54 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.98 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.61. The company has a market cap of $22.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released 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). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. As a group, analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.00%.

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.