Trexquant Investment LP Lowers Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Trexquant Investment LP decreased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 61.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 117,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 183,367 shares during the quarter. Trexquant Investment LP’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP increased its position in FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.7% during the fourth quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 33.0% during the fourth 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 last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on FE shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $39.38 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.81 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.00. 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 company has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a PE ratio of 25.41, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its 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). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for 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%. Analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.71%.

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.