Pensionfund Sabic Trims Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Pensionfund Sabic reduced its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FE. USA Financial Formulas purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $72,000. CWM LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.8% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 30,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,355,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.8% during the third quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 7,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $342,000 after acquiring an additional 488 shares during the last quarter. MKT Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at $224,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 13.3% during the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $455,000 after buying an additional 1,201 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $42.55 on Thursday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $34.66 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The company has a 50 day moving average of $43.38 and a 200 day moving average of $40.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a market capitalization of $24.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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 paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 97.70%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on FE shares. KeyCorp boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America lifted 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. Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.80.

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.