FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Holdings Boosted by Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV

Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 0.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 66,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 505 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan ADV’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,632,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth about $12,198,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 48,759 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,933,000 after buying an additional 17,506 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after buying an additional 14,129 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $664,000. Finally, Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 17.6% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Portfolio Solutions Inc. now owns 5,315 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $211,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FE shares. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America raised FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other FirstEnergy news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,299,514.57. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.5%

FirstEnergy stock opened at $42.67 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $40.88 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.60. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.68%.

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.