FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Wexford Capital LP

Wexford Capital LP lessened its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 85.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 55,737 shares during the period. Wexford Capital LP's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $378,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Merit Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 29,597 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,177,000 after purchasing an additional 1,415 shares during the period. Arkadios Wealth Advisors purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $202,000. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $201,000. HB Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 34.6% in the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 2,454 shares during the period. Finally, AHL Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $879,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho set a $43.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $42.82 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.97 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.16%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.68%.

Insider Activity at FirstEnergy

In related news, 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 sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,299,514.57. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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