South Dakota Investment Council Reduces Position in FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

South Dakota Investment Council lowered its holdings in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 21.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 103,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 28,200 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $4,758,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at $289,000. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after acquiring an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 43,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.9%

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $50.52 on Wednesday. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $51.39. The company has a market cap of $29.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $45.95.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.50% and a net margin of 6.76%.During the same period last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.620-2.820 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 7th will be given a $0.465 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 7th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 101.14%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on FE. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Scotiabank reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Mizuho set a $51.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut FirstEnergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.31.

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.