Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp Sells 91,520 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lowered its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 323,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 91,520 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $12,887,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FE. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,057,000 after buying an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 14,129 shares in the last quarter. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $664,000. Finally, Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,267,000 after buying an additional 26,874 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FE. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.5 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $40.05 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.81 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $39.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.15. The company has a market capitalization of $23.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current 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 $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. 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 4.44%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 104.71%.

FirstEnergy Company 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.