FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. cut its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,354,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 191,970 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $133,423,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Boston Partners grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares during the last quarter. Amundi grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,334,000 after buying an additional 939,240 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth $30,069,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,619,270,000 after acquiring an additional 508,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at $12,198,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on FE shares. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. KeyCorp decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:FE opened at $40.60 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.19, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $39.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.05. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1-year low of $36.81 and a 1-year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

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.