AdvisorNet Financial Inc Boosts Stock Holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc raised its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) by 6,689.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,569 shares during the quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $427,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,417.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 743,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,965,000 after buying an additional 694,313 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after acquiring an additional 457,231 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth $14,933,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,445.0% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 219,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,732,000 after purchasing an additional 214,606 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.6% during the 2nd quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,725,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,288,000 after purchasing an additional 193,540 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $39.20 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $40.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.75. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52-week low of $35.41 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

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

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

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.