Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC Takes Position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Tounjian Advisory Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 26,824 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,084,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its position in FirstEnergy by 69.3% during 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. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at $31,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE traded up $0.45 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $40.66. 6,274,902 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,843,811. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company has a market capitalization of $23.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.23, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.40. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $40.59.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.38%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is currently 94.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on FE. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Mizuho set a $43.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.00.

Insider Activity

In other FirstEnergy news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $516,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,919 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy 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.