Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Decreases Stake in FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Key Points

• Arrowstreet Capital cut its FirstEnergy stake by 60.7% in the first quarter, selling 246,363 shares and retaining 159,511 shares valued at approximately $8.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 89.41% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with seven Buy ratings and six Hold ratings. FirstEnergy has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $52.83.
• FirstEnergy reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, in line with expectations, while revenue of $3.68 billion exceeded forecasts. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.465 per share, representing a 3.8% annualized yield.

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership reduced its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 60.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 159,511 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 246,363 shares during the quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $8,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,109,341 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,049,255,000 after acquiring an additional 761,157 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 13.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 18,344,403 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $841,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,400 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,463,298 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $600,351,000 after purchasing an additional 126,834 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,722,471 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $524,815,000 after purchasing an additional 34,014 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,971,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $508,158,000 after purchasing an additional 694,449 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. New Street Research set a $52.00 price target on FirstEnergy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $55.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut FirstEnergy from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $52.83.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.7%

Shares of FE stock opened at $48.38 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The company has a market cap of $27.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.47. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $41.87 and a 1 year high of $52.34. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $47.58 and a 200-day moving average price of $48.25.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 6.86%.During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.465 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.94%.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. NYSE: FE is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company's primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid‑Atlantic. FirstEnergy's service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy's core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.

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