FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Teacher Retirement System of Texas

Teacher Retirement System of Texas decreased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 96.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F 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 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at $12,198,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 41.8% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 14,129 shares during the period. Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth about $664,000. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.8% during the third quarter. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 186,406 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $8,267,000 after buying an additional 26,874 shares during the period. Finally, AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6,689.2% during the fourth quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 10,727 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $427,000 after buying an additional 10,569 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.6 %

FE traded down $0.62 on Monday, hitting $38.75. The company had a trading volume of 7,166,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,359,712. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. 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 has a fifty day moving average price of $39.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.95. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $36.81 and a 12-month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (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 firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. Analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.59%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is 104.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FE. Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.15.

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.