USS Investment Management Ltd Reduces Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 49.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,853 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 55,941 shares during the period. USS Investment Management Ltd's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Arkadios Wealth Advisors bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 34.6% during the fourth quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,538 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 2,454 shares during the last quarter. Dakota Wealth Management increased its position in FirstEnergy by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,384 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 1,646 shares during the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total transaction of $503,640.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 183 shares in the company, valued at $7,680.51. This trade represents a 98.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on FE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Mizuho set a $43.00 price target on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank restated an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Friday, April 25th. 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $48.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $41.63. The company had a trading volume of 909,684 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,688,527. 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 company has a market capitalization of $24.03 billion, a PE ratio of 26.86, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $41.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $40.63. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. FirstEnergy's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.28%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.