Townsquare Capital LLC Sells 36,375 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Townsquare Capital LLC lessened its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 17.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 175,127 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 36,375 shares during the period. Townsquare Capital LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $7,767,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of FE. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the period. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. West Oak Capital LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $42.63 on Thursday. 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 $24.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.50, a P/E/G ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.51. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 12 month low of $35.41 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The business’s 50-day moving average is $42.78 and its 200 day moving average is $41.49.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.88 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.99%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.91.

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.