FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Shares Sold by Ensign Peak Advisors Inc

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc decreased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 24.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 237,666 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 75,580 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $9,095,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Capital World Investors grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 14.3% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 77,928,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,009,615,000 after buying an additional 9,773,785 shares during the period. Boston Partners grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,517,314 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $367,423,000 after buying an additional 218,165 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,930,826 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $344,908,000 after buying an additional 82,482 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.0% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,557,667 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $136,152,000 after buying an additional 69,512 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 20.6% during the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,454,376 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $126,637,000 after buying an additional 590,815 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FE. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price 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. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Barclays upped their target price 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $44.18.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE FE traded down $0.07 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $43.58. 309,527 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,949,894. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $44.97. 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 capitalization of $25.10 billion, a PE ratio of 25.09, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a 50 day moving average of $42.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $40.10.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, August 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.90%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.70%.

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.