Intech Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Intech Investment Management LLC reduced its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 21.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,792 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 8,223 shares during the quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $104,057,000 after buying an additional 171,955 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,154,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 14,129 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $664,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE traded up $0.49 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $38.44. The stock had a trading volume of 5,134,712 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,153,957. 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 50 day simple moving average of $39.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.22. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $36.81 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

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FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). The business 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%. On average, analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on FE. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp dropped 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. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.00.

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.