Jennison Associates LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Jennison Associates LLC cut its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,451,095 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 238,450 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC owned about 0.25% of FirstEnergy worth $57,725,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in FE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $403,517,000 after buying an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $153,081,000 after acquiring an additional 34,151 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position 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 worth $104,057,000 after acquiring an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.3% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 2.1% during the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 854,697 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $37,906,000 after purchasing an additional 17,462 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective 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. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut FirstEnergy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $40.17. 4,045,275 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,689,515. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $40.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.41 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

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.