State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Lowers Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 38.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 181,256 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 111,223 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $6,937,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Sachetta LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 7,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 9th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $43.50.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $44.47 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market cap of $25.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50-day moving average of $42.03 and a two-hundred day moving average of $39.78. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.70%.

About FirstEnergy

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.