OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp Purchases 3,857 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 22,775 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,857 shares during the period. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $906,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in FE. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $656,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares in the last quarter. Amundi lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 103.8% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,334,000 after purchasing an additional 939,240 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its position 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 purchasing an additional 888,800 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,069,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% during the fourth 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. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on FE shares. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Nine 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 presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Insider Activity at FirstEnergy

In related news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE opened at $42.67 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.53, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $40.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.60. FirstEnergy Corp. has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share 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 the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company’s revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors 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 represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.17%. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 94.68%.

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.