Retirement Systems of Alabama Has $4.17 Million Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Retirement Systems of Alabama trimmed its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 113,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,861 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of FE. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 327.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the third quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the third quarter worth $45,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on FE shares. StockNews.com raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE opened at $38.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.42 billion, a PE ratio of 22.39 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company’s 50-day moving average is $38.02 and its 200-day moving average is $37.27. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $32.18 and a fifty-two week high of $40.42.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.36%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 94.25%.

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.