FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 0.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 64,473,513 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 418,446 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned about 11.20% of FirstEnergy worth $2,489,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors increased its position in FirstEnergy by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 68,155,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,498,567,000 after purchasing an additional 18,853,983 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 53.9% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,307,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,271,000 after buying an additional 1,158,034 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 20.6% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,454,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,637,000 after acquiring an additional 590,815 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the first quarter valued at about $12,631,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 2,741.7% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 295,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,429,000 after acquiring an additional 285,522 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.55.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.3 %

FE traded up $0.13 on Friday, reaching $39.59. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,004,350 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,531,488. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.56. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $40.65. The business’s 50 day moving average is $39.05 and its 200 day moving average is $38.20. The stock has a market cap of $22.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.75, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.49.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 12.45%. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.