Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 8,867 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Alliancebernstein L.P. lowered its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 606,973 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,867 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned 0.11% of FirstEnergy worth $24,145,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC boosted 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 during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.0% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

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FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.2 %

NYSE:FE traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $40.59. 4,344,177 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,437,173. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $36.81 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The stock has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $39.87 and a 200 day moving average of $40.81.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued 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 net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on FE shares. Scotiabank reduced 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. UBS Group boosted 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.17.

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.