Strs Ohio Reduces Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Strs Ohio lessened its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 33.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,414 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 26,657 shares during the period. Strs Ohio's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,921,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FE. Clear Street Markets LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 549.0% during the fourth quarter. Clear Street Markets LLC now owns 649 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 549 shares during the period. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Certified Advisory Corp acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter worth $29,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, MUFG Americas Holdings Corp acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on FE. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a "buy" rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of FirstEnergy from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $40.38.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.17. The company had a trading volume of 2,710,048 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,537,835. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $37.73 and a 200 day moving average of $37.01. FirstEnergy Corp. has a one year low of $32.18 and a one year high of $41.17. The firm has a market cap of $21.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is 90.61%.

About FirstEnergy

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.