FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) Shares Bought by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council boosted its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 90.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 132,035 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 62,782 shares during the quarter. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $5,337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 226.9% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 490 shares during the period. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Tsfg LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 143.6% in the first quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,000 after buying an additional 632 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America upgraded FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $46.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $45.92.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE stock traded up $0.49 on Tuesday, hitting $41.57. The company had a trading volume of 1,773,895 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,024,166. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $40.78 and its 200 day simple moving average is $40.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market cap of $23.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.11, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.39.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 7.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FirstEnergy news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total transaction of $503,640.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,680.51. This trade represents a 98.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 99,919 shares in the company, valued at $4,299,514.57. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

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.