National Pension Service Acquires 31,893 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

National Pension Service lifted its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 892,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 31,893 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.15% of FirstEnergy worth $40,878,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FE. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.6% during the second quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale now owns 84,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,349 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 418.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 270,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,878,000 after purchasing an additional 218,020 shares in the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 52.7% in the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,632 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,716,000 after purchasing an additional 14,718 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,379.5% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 114,945 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,628,000 after purchasing an additional 107,176 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 218.6% during the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 62,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,506,000 after purchasing an additional 42,700 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on FE shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Wolfe Research raised FirstEnergy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. KeyCorp lowered FirstEnergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.85.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE opened at $47.03 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $45.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.98. FirstEnergy Corporation has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $48.20.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 77.73%.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company’s primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid‑Atlantic. FirstEnergy’s service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy’s core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.