Yousif Capital Management LLC Sells 4,995 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Yousif Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 4.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 96,405 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,995 shares during the period. Yousif Capital Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,534,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. MGO One Seven LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 4.7% during the 3rd quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in FirstEnergy by 9.3% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $137,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in FirstEnergy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 28,575 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the period. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 72,037 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,641,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,595 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $278,000 after buying an additional 361 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.1 %

FE stock opened at $38.13 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $37.83 and a 200 day moving average of $37.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $32.18 and a 52 week high of $41.15.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 13.21%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.46%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 94.25%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FE has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.80.

FirstEnergy 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.