FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Stake Increased by Pensionfund Sabic

Pensionfund Sabic raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 29.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 35,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the quarter. Pensionfund Sabic’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 4.4% during the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. KeyCorp cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Argus upgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. 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 research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.9 %

Shares of FE stock opened at $39.18 on Tuesday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.41 and a 1 year high of $44.97. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $40.96 and its 200-day moving average is $41.71. The stock has a market cap of $22.58 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders 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 yield of 4.34%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.