Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Acquires Shares of 31,200 FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor acquired 31,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,144,000.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted 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. Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Baystate Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $60,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.2 %

FE stock opened at $38.12 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $21.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $37.07. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $32.18 and a 52 week high of $41.17.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 93.92%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have weighed in on FE shares. StockNews.com downgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Scotiabank cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday. KeyCorp boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

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.