Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Has $722,000 Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 89.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,692 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 150,854 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.'s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $722,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 327.3% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.3 %

FirstEnergy stock traded down $0.52 on Wednesday, hitting $39.91. 1,892,501 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,202,745. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market cap of $22.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.92 and a beta of 0.48. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $38.58 and its 200 day simple moving average is $37.59. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $40.65.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 8.22%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is currently 97.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FE. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of 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 assumed 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 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $39.80.

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.

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