Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Cuts Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd decreased its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,091 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,846 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,911,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors raised its position in FirstEnergy by 14.3% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 77,928,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,009,615,000 after acquiring an additional 9,773,785 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,417.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 743,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,965,000 after purchasing an additional 694,313 shares in the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd lifted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 515,458 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.3% during 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. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth about $14,933,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on FE shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $41.23 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $34.92 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.19. The company has a market capitalization of $23.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.60, a PEG ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

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.