New York Life Investment Management LLC Lowers Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

New York Life Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 73,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 474 shares during the quarter. New York Life Investment Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,688,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 327.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $39.24 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.97 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.25. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $32.18 and a one year high of $40.42. 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 (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 8.22%. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.25%.

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.