Jennison Associates LLC Trims Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Jennison Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 14.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,799,822 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 297,522 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $65,981,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 52.9% during the 3rd quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $83,000 after buying an additional 845 shares during the last quarter. DnB Asset Management AS grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 43.0% during the 3rd quarter. DnB Asset Management AS now owns 32,489 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,110,000 after buying an additional 9,768 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 42.7% during the 3rd quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 1,672 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $57,000 after buying an additional 500 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 122.1% during the 3rd quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 168,032 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,743,000 after buying an additional 92,375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Wealth Group LLC now owns 66,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,268,000 after buying an additional 873 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $38.21 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $32.18 and a twelve month high of $41.17. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $37.74 and a 200 day moving average of $37.05.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. FirstEnergy’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 90.61%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com cut FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.33.

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.