NorthRock Partners LLC Purchases New Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

NorthRock Partners LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 6,682 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $266,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 20.4% in the fourth quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 22,775 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $906,000 after purchasing an additional 3,857 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 46.0% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 105,121 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,179,000 after purchasing an additional 33,111 shares during the period. Lionshead Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at $211,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 62,873 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,501,000 after acquiring an additional 1,176 shares during the period. Finally, Gotham Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC now owns 11,004 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $438,000 after acquiring an additional 844 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at FirstEnergy

In related news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $516,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 99,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America upgraded FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Nine 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, FirstEnergy has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of FE stock traded up $0.12 on Friday, reaching $42.11. 4,250,831 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,686,594. The company has a market cap of $24.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.17, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $41.18 and a 200-day moving average of $40.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (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 analysts' expectations of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. Analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.23%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.68%.

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.