Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Invests $224,000 in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 5,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $224,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.3% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,317,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $50,422,000 after buying an additional 42,484 shares during the last quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 52.7% in the second quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 87,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,361,000 after purchasing an additional 30,309 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth $596,000. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.3% during the second quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL now owns 1,088,770 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $41,667,000 after purchasing an additional 24,512 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.1% in the third quarter. National Pension Service now owns 854,697 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $37,906,000 after purchasing an additional 17,462 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $41.80 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $24.09 billion, a PE ratio of 26.97, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.42. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $35.41 and a one year high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. Research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

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.