Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Has $1.08 Million Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lessened its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 33.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,258 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 13,882 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,084,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boston Partners lifted its position 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 buying an additional 6,991,866 shares during the period. Amundi raised its stake 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 acquiring an additional 939,240 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 118.2% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,640,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $65,271,000 after acquiring an additional 888,800 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $30,069,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,619,270,000 after purchasing an additional 508,570 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho set a $43.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America raised FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FirstEnergy news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 now directly owns 99,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.8%

Shares of FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.72 on Thursday, reaching $41.86. 1,692,622 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,629,624. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $40.75 and a 200 day moving average of $40.62. The company has a market capitalization of $24.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.06, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business 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 represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.25%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio 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.