VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Invests $13.31 Million in FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 279,950 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $13,309,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of FE. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth $25,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the first quarter worth about $26,000. DV Equities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Summit Securities Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 148.0% during the 4th quarter. Summit Securities Group LLC now owns 771 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 2,376 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $56.00 to $53.00 in a research note on Friday, May 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on FirstEnergy from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 21st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.83.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $46.77 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $27.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $47.72 and its 200-day moving average is $48.20. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $42.87 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 6.86%.During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.52 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were issued a dividend of $0.465 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.0%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 98.94%.

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.