FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 7.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 140,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 10,528 shares during the quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $5,369,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.2% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.8% during the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 7,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.1% during the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after buying an additional 295 shares during the period. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.7% during the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Finally, Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.2% during the second quarter. Loring Wolcott & Coolidge Fiduciary Advisors LLP MA now owns 2,243 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $87,000 after buying an additional 312 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.9 %

FE opened at $44.47 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $32.18 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a fifty day moving average of $42.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 97.70%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on FE. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $43.50.

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.