Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Cuts Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. lowered its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,286,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,689 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $47,152,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,214,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,128,322,000 after purchasing an additional 4,443,050 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 31.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,827,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $540,996,000 after purchasing an additional 3,756,228 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,573,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $463,950,000 after purchasing an additional 407,350 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,526,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $460,739,000 after purchasing an additional 300,442 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,848,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $324,380,000 after purchasing an additional 272,478 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $38.18 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 0.48. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.97. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $41.17.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 90.61%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.38.

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.