Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Decreases Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV decreased its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 33.7% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund 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 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% during 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 last quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 33.0% in 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 lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $287,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE 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 fifty day moving average of $40.57 and a 200-day moving average of $40.67. The company has a market capitalization of $24.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. 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 dividend yield of 4.18%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.68%.

Insider Transactions at FirstEnergy

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. The trade was a 10.72 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Mizuho set a $43.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.