FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd trimmed its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 40.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 29,906 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,621,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in 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. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 14.6% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 46,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,719,000 after acquiring an additional 5,979 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 20.2% in the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 95,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,497,000 after buying an additional 16,018 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 25.2% in the 4th quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 12,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $448,000 after buying an additional 2,458 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. 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 research report on Monday, April 22nd. 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 target on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target 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. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE stock traded up $0.10 on Friday, reaching $39.24. 57,873 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,166,194. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $40.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $38.64 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.62. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.49, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. On average, research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 97.70%.

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.