First Horizon Advisors Inc. Sells 1,600 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

First Horizon Advisors Inc. cut its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 1.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 92,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,600 shares during the quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc.’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,380,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 327.3% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. NBC Securities Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Authentikos Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the third quarter worth approximately $45,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of FE opened at $39.24 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corp. has a fifty-two week low of $32.18 and a fifty-two week high of $40.42. The business has a 50-day moving average of $37.93 and a 200 day moving average of $37.21. The firm has a market cap of $22.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.65.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The company’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 94.25%.

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.