FirstEnergy Dividend Offers 4.0% Yield

FirstEnergy Corp.

said that its board has declared an unchanged quarterly dividend of $0.36 per share of outstanding common stock. It represented $1.44 a share on an annualized basis. The dividend provided 4.0 percent yield, which was weaker than the 4.80 percent yield of the average in the five-year period. First Energy said that the dividend would be payable September 1 to its shareholders, whose name appears on the record date of August 5. Its dividend payout ratio was about 89.0 percent. Since the company has not increased its dividend rate recently, the average dividend pace fell 7.6 percent in the five-year period while it was 12.782 percent in the three-year period. Shares of the company shed 0.58 percent on Tuesday.