FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Bank of America Corp DE

Bank of America Corp DE decreased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 23.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,532,452 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 758,391 shares during the quarter. Bank of America Corp DE owned approximately 0.44% of FirstEnergy worth $100,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,198,000. Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 56.0% in the 4th quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 48,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,933,000 after buying an additional 17,506 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 41.8% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,902,000 after acquiring an additional 14,129 shares during the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $664,000. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 6,689.2% in the 4th quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 10,727 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $427,000 after purchasing an additional 10,569 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $42.54 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market cap of $24.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $40.57 and a 200-day moving average of $40.65.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm's revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. On average, analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is currently 94.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other FirstEnergy news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on FE shares. Guggenheim boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho set a $43.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine investment 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.00.

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.

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