Pacer Advisors Inc. Sells 15,155 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Pacer Advisors Inc. lessened its position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 24.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 47,383 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 15,155 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LFG Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. LFG Wealth Partners LLC now owns 16,327 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 20.6% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 1,106 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.9% in the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,695,000 after purchasing an additional 946 shares during the last quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,910.1% in the first quarter. Optiver Holding B.V. now owns 1,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Glenmede Trust Co. NA lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 93.2% in the first quarter. Glenmede Trust Co. NA now owns 59,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,014,000 after purchasing an additional 28,702 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on FE shares. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Morgan Stanley reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, July 22nd. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, New Street Research set a $52.00 price objective on FirstEnergy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.83.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE opened at $47.50 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $47.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $48.32. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1-year low of $42.72 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The company has a market cap of $27.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27, a PEG ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.465 dividend. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.9%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.94%.

About FirstEnergy

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.