National Bank of Canada FI Sells 86,686 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 240,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 86,686 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $9,554,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% during the 4th 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 period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the 4th 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. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $371,911,000 after purchasing an additional 220,433 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,402,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,334,000 after purchasing an additional 105,408 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Guggenheim decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock opened at $39.38 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.97 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.00. The firm has a market cap of $22.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.41, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. 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 Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.52%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio 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.