FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) Stock Holdings Decreased by Townsquare Capital LLC

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC has significantly reduced its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation by 52.6%, owning 72,720 shares after selling 80,806 shares in the first quarter.
• FirstEnergy will distribute a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share on September 1st, with an annualized yield of 4.1%.
• Several analysts have increased their target prices for FirstEnergy, with Mizuho raising its target from $43.00 to $45.00 and Bank of America upgrading the stock to a "neutral" rating.

Townsquare Capital LLC cut its position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 52.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,720 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 80,806 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $2,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter worth about $27,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 226.9% in the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group set a $44.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Nine 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, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.08.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE traded down $0.20 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,283,085 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,961,211. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $41.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.23, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,680.51. The trade was a 98.50% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.