National Pension Service Has $37.91 Million Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

National Pension Service lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 854,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,462 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.15% of FirstEnergy worth $37,906,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FE. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth $32,000. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Finally, West Oak Capital LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on FE. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $41.57 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $23.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.23 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $34.92 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.51 and its 200 day moving average is $41.19.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

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.