Mackenzie Financial Corp Reduces Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Mackenzie Financial Corp decreased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 43,418 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,950 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,592,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of FE. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 31.1% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,827,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $540,996,000 after buying an additional 3,756,228 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,573,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $463,950,000 after acquiring an additional 407,350 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,575,866 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $293,123,000 after acquiring an additional 306,503 shares during the last quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 447.1% in the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 372,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after acquiring an additional 304,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citigroup Inc. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,018,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,810,000 after acquiring an additional 218,439 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $38.12 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $37.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $37.07. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $32.18 and a twelve month high of $41.17. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The company has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 90.61%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Scotiabank reduced 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. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

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.