Retirement Systems of Alabama Decreases Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Retirement Systems of Alabama lowered its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 111,673 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,585 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,953,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the third quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the period. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the second quarter worth about $32,000. West Oak Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FE. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $39.14 on Thursday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $41.95 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.56 billion, a PE ratio of 25.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.88 EPS. FirstEnergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.34%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.