FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Stake Trimmed by California State Teachers Retirement System

California State Teachers Retirement System lessened its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 1.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 640,201 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,025 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $32,433,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State of Wyoming purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at about $25,000. DV Equities LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 44.4% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 507.9% during the fourth quarter. Quest 10 Wealth Builders Inc. now owns 766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 148.0% during the fourth quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.7%

NYSE:FE opened at $48.38 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $27.99 billion, a PE ratio of 25.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 0.47. FirstEnergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $41.87 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $47.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $48.25.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be given a $0.465 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.94%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday. UBS Group increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut FirstEnergy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus 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.