24,200 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Bought by Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 24,200 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $963,000. FirstEnergy comprises approximately 1.1% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,417.3% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 743,303 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $32,965,000 after buying an additional 694,313 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $403,517,000 after purchasing an additional 457,231 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at $14,933,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 4,445.0% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 219,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $9,732,000 after buying an additional 214,606 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,725,050 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $104,288,000 after buying an additional 193,540 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $39.20. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,468,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,693,719. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $40.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.29, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $35.41 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on FE. Scotiabank upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a "hold" rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.27.

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.