Merit Financial Group LLC Raises Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Merit Financial Group LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 22.7% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 36,317 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,720 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,468,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $835,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $287,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on FE. Bank of America upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho set a $43.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.00.

Insider Transactions at FirstEnergy

In related news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $40.65. The company had a trading volume of 2,702,794 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,732,039. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.46 billion, a PE ratio of 26.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.40. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.62.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is 94.68%.

FirstEnergy Company 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.