New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

New York State Common Retirement Fund trimmed its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 463,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 52,795 shares during the period. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $16,976,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. California Public Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.1% in the 4th quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 3,064,833 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,357,000 after buying an additional 177,199 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth $1,644,000. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 30,133 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,105,000 after buying an additional 3,027 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 55.8% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 3,924 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 1,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lindbrook Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 28.4% in the 4th quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 7,065 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $259,000 after acquiring an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 1.1 %

NYSE FE opened at $38.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.91 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.14. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $32.18 and a one year high of $41.15.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.53 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 12.45%. Equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Company 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.