FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Shares Sold by Korea Investment CORP

Korea Investment CORP lessened its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 13.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 375,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 58,115 shares during the quarter. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $17,851,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,109,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,049,255,000 after purchasing an additional 761,157 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 13.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 18,344,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $841,161,000 after buying an additional 2,185,400 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,463,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $600,351,000 after acquiring an additional 126,834 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,722,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $524,815,000 after acquiring an additional 34,014 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,971,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $508,158,000 after acquiring an additional 694,449 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $45.99 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $26.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 0.46. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $42.87 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $47.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Investors of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.465 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.94%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on FE shares. UBS Group upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. TD Cowen raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.83.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company’s primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid?Atlantic. FirstEnergy’s service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy’s core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.