Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Purchases Shares of 167,672 FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 167,672 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $6,668,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Prudential PLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Prudential PLC now owns 32,957 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,311,000 after buying an additional 3,795 shares in the last quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 57.6% during the 4th quarter. Landscape Capital Management L.L.C. now owns 45,286 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,801,000 after purchasing an additional 16,547 shares in the last quarter. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $9,789,000. World Investment Advisors bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $398,000. Finally, Bryce Point Capital LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $528,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Scotiabank cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.17.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 1.2 %

FE traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $40.59. 4,344,177 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,442,914. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.18, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $39.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.79. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. As a group, analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm 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. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.