FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Stock Position Trimmed by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 96.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,121 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 153,017 shares during the period. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $204,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Boston Partners raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,309,000 after buying an additional 6,991,866 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $371,911,000 after acquiring an additional 220,433 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,081,000 after purchasing an additional 34,151 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 3,402,070 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,334,000 after purchasing an additional 105,408 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 103.8% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $73,334,000 after purchasing an additional 939,240 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $40.60 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $23.41 billion, a PE ratio of 26.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.05.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 104.71%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FE. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

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.