Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Retirement Systems of Alabama reduced its position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 111,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,585 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,953,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the third quarter worth about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Quarry LP increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 59.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sachetta LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 36.0% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $39.14 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $22.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.25, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $35.41 and a 52-week high of $44.97. 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 firm’s fifty day moving average is $41.95 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.62.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.34%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

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.