FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC

Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC lowered its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 77.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,826 shares during the quarter. Sherbrooke Park Advisers LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $209,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE opened at $42.72 on Wednesday. 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 $24.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $41.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.61.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. FirstEnergy’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 94.68%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FE shares. Scotiabank restated an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other FirstEnergy news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were 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 owns 99,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.