FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Shares Sold by State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D reduced its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation by 6.4%, owning 169,613 shares valued at approximately $6.86 million.
• Several institutional investors increased their holdings in FirstEnergy, with Aberdeen Group plc boosting its position by 15.5% and now owning stock worth $40.93 million.
• FirstEnergy's latest earnings report showed an EPS of $0.52, slightly surpassing analysts' expectations, while the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D cut its holdings in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 169,613 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 11,643 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $6,856,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dakota Wealth Management raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.4% in the first quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,633 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $309,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% in the first quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 10,807 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $437,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.2% in the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 22,677 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $917,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $835,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.5% in the first quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $222,000 after purchasing an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FE shares. Mizuho raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, UBS Group set a $44.00 price objective on FirstEnergy and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.08.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE stock traded up $0.2650 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.7450. 2,959,152 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,926,687. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $41.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The company has a market cap of $25.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 9.31%.During the same period last year, the business earned $0.56 earnings per share. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 78.76%.

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.