Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 154,339 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE)

Key Points

• Heartland Advisors Inc. has reduced its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation by 36.3%, selling 154,339 shares, and now holds 270,525 shares valued at approximately $10.9 million.
• FirstEnergy recently reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.67, exceeding analysts' estimates of $0.60, with a revenue increase of 14.5% year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, which equates to an annualized dividend yield of 4.30% and a payout ratio of 94.68%.

Heartland Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 36.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 270,525 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 154,339 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.'s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $10,935,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 226.9% during the 1st quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $31,000. Tsfg LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 143.6% during the 1st quarter. Tsfg LLC now owns 1,072 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $43,000 after acquiring an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 179.8% during the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,192 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 766 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.6%

Shares of FE opened at $41.44 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $40.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.54. FirstEnergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $23.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.04, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.39.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 7.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.55 EPS. FirstEnergy's revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared 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 is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is presently 94.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $46.00 target price (down previously from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Mizuho set a $43.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $516,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 99,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total transaction of $503,640.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 183 shares in the company, valued at $7,680.51. This trade represents a 98.50% decrease in their position. 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.

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