Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd Cuts Stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd reduced its stake in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 45.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 24,224 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 20,000 shares during the period. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,074,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Balanced Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 36.0% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 246 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 0.7% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after acquiring an additional 310 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Argus raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $42.63 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $42.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

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.