UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC Purchases 297,258 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,643,521 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 297,258 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC owned 0.46% of FirstEnergy worth $105,159,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,074,000 after buying an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.0% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $287,000 after buying an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on FE. Evercore ISI increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho set a $43.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, 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 research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other 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 transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 99,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 2.1%

NYSE:FE traded down $0.89 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $41.21. 3,796,637 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,693,579. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.59, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.28 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.63. 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 (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share. FirstEnergy's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.445 dividend. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 94.68%.

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.