Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC Takes Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 124,393 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $4,948,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $656,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 8,340,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $331,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133,083 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 33.4% during the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 4,918,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $195,672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,040 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 103.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $73,334,000 after purchasing an additional 939,240 shares during the period. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 118.2% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,640,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $65,271,000 after buying an additional 888,800 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $42.28 on Thursday. 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 $24.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.62.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.55 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. 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 4.21%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 94.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 99,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,299,514.57. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FE. UBS Group raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho set a $43.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, April 28th. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Bank of America upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.00.

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.

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