Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Takes Position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 8,180 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $331,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd increased its position in FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 226.9% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 143.6% during the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $40.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,283,519 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,027,829. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $23.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 0.39. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.49.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 7.78%. FirstEnergy's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 183 shares in the company, valued at $7,680.51. This represents a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 99,919 shares in the company, valued at $4,299,514.57. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho set a $43.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, April 28th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.92.

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.