Jennison Associates LLC Lowers Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Jennison Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 4.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,689,545 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 87,090 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.29% of FirstEnergy worth $74,931,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Blair William & Co. IL increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.8% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 10,004 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $386,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the period. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 71.9% in the 1st quarter. O Shaughnessy Asset Management LLC now owns 22,399 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $865,000 after acquiring an additional 9,372 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,139 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $353,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Inc. CA lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 89.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 223,152 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,618,000 after acquiring an additional 105,289 shares during the period. Finally, BOKF NA grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 35.6% during the 1st quarter. BOKF NA now owns 284,851 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $10,930,000 after purchasing an additional 74,743 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of FE stock opened at $41.73 on Thursday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $35.41 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.40. The company has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a PEG ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Scotiabank upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.00.

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.