Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Purchases 10,218 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE)

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 18.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 66,831 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 10,218 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,701,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $256,000. US Bancorp DE grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 40,256 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,601,000 after purchasing an additional 1,311 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 3,556 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 580 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 123.6% during the fourth quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 14,821 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $590,000 after purchasing an additional 8,192 shares during the period. Finally, SBI Securities Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:FE traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $39.82. 2,417,082 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,985,621. The stock has a market cap of $22.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.34 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $41.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 11.49% and a net margin of 7.78%. FirstEnergy's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho set a $43.00 price objective on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group set a $44.00 price objective on FirstEnergy and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.00.

About FirstEnergy

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.