BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC Sells 97,996 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC reduced its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 33.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 194,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 97,996 shares during the quarter. FirstEnergy comprises 0.8% of BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $7,739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.17.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $40.59 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $39.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.81. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

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

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.39%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.