24,200 Shares in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Acquired by Board of the Pension Protection Fund

Board of the Pension Protection Fund purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 24,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $963,000. FirstEnergy accounts for 1.1% of Board of the Pension Protection Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the period. Quarry LP lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.5% in the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $422,000 after acquiring an additional 324 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $39.16 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $40.64 and its 200 day moving average is $41.75. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 1 year low of $35.41 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Scotiabank upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

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.