Mackenzie Financial Corp Sells 163,793 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE)

Key Points

• Mackenzie Financial Corp has significantly reduced its position in FirstEnergy Corporation by 75.8% during the first quarter, holding 52,163 shares after selling 163,793 shares.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, with a total annualized dividend yield of 4.1%, to be paid on September 1st.
• FirstEnergy has a market capitalization of $24.94 billion and reported earnings per share of $0.52, exceeding expectations, alongside a net margin of 9.31%.

Mackenzie Financial Corp cut its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 75.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 52,163 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 163,793 shares during the quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 94.6% in the first quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 555,611 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $22,458,000 after purchasing an additional 270,033 shares during the last quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Bedel Financial Consulting Inc. now owns 8,388 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $362,000 after acquiring an additional 757 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.5% in the 1st quarter. Empirical Finance LLC now owns 18,612 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $752,000 after acquiring an additional 636 shares during the period. Bearing Point Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 35.9% in the 1st quarter. Bearing Point Capital LLC now owns 14,000 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $566,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares during the period. Finally, HB Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 10,377 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $419,000 after acquiring an additional 839 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE traded down $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $43.51. 4,382,296 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,060,127. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The firm has a market cap of $25.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.48. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $40.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.70. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.31%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.56 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is 78.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on FE. Guggenheim raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.08.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 99,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,299,514.57. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total transaction of $503,640.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,680.51. The trade was a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

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.