Moors & Cabot Inc. Cuts Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Moors & Cabot Inc. reduced its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,712 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 826 shares during the quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $333,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 68,155,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,498,567,000 after purchasing an additional 18,853,983 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,454,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,637,000 after acquiring an additional 590,815 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 63.4% in the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,328,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,295,000 after acquiring an additional 515,458 shares in the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter worth approximately $12,631,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2,741.7% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 295,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,429,000 after purchasing an additional 285,522 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $44.00 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $32.18 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $42.50 and its two-hundred day moving average is $39.98. The company has a market capitalization of $25.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.47 EPS. Equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.86%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $44.18.

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.