FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Nomura Holdings Inc.

Nomura Holdings Inc. trimmed its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 28.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,192 shares during the period. Nomura Holdings Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $381,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 38.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 68,155,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,498,567,000 after purchasing an additional 18,853,983 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 53.9% during the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,307,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $121,271,000 after acquiring an additional 1,158,034 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,454,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,637,000 after acquiring an additional 590,815 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 447.1% in the third quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 372,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,715,000 after acquiring an additional 304,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,848,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $324,380,000 after purchasing an additional 272,478 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FE. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Scotiabank reduced their target price on 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 FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.27.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.1 %

NYSE FE opened at $38.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.99, a PEG ratio of 2.42 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $38.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $32.18 and a 52 week high of $40.65.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.36 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 12.45%. Equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.