FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Stock Position Lessened by M&T Bank Corp

M&T Bank Corp reduced its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 153,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,963 shares during the quarter. M&T Bank Corp’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $6,816,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake 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 worth $32,965,000 after buying an additional 694,313 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,933,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,178.5% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 286,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,977,000 after purchasing an additional 264,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,445.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 219,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,732,000 after purchasing an additional 214,606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.6 %

FE stock opened at $39.79 on Monday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $41.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.61. The company has a market cap of $22.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.68%.

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.