FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by First Horizon Advisors Inc.

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 92,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,380,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. FMR LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 31.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,827,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $540,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,756,228 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,573,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $463,950,000 after acquiring an additional 407,350 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.2% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 5,543,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $189,473,000 after purchasing an additional 92,561 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.2% during the third quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,828,791 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,867,000 after purchasing an additional 44,031 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on FE. StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE stock opened at $39.24 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The company has a market cap of $22.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $37.21. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $40.42.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 8.22%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 94.25%.

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.