Gabelli Funds LLC Reduces Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Gabelli Funds LLC lowered its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 3.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 419,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 16,000 shares during the period. Gabelli Funds LLC owned approximately 0.07% of FirstEnergy worth $16,220,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 37,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,358,000 after buying an additional 376 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,644,000. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 41.4% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 187,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,259,000 after buying an additional 54,990 shares in the last quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $2,418,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the first quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,335,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,572,000 after purchasing an additional 67,469 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE traded up $0.49 on Friday, reaching $40.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,054,194 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,303,508. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $32.18 and a twelve month high of $41.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.65. The stock has a market cap of $23.56 billion, a PE ratio of 23.53, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $39.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $38.28.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 97.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on FE. Bank of America boosted 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. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.55.

FirstEnergy Company 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.