South Dakota Investment Council Acquires 16,871 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 32.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 69,253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 16,871 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,755,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 93,749 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,729,000 after purchasing an additional 1,161 shares during the last quarter. ING Groep NV bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth about $1,719,000. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 7.8% during the 4th quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 11,946 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $475,000 after purchasing an additional 862 shares during the last quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 6.4% during the 4th quarter. Prossimo Advisors LLC now owns 10,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares during the last quarter. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth about $443,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE opened at $42.34 on Monday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $39.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.77. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $36.01 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.40 billion, a PE ratio of 27.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.01%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on FE. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Seaport Res Ptn cut FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

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.