AdvisorNet Financial Inc Purchases 6,321 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

AdvisorNet Financial Inc grew its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 58.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,048 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 6,321 shares during the quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Balanced Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,074,000 after purchasing an additional 250 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its position in FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $835,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.0% in the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares during the period. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 7,290 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $287,000 after acquiring an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of FE traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $40.67. 2,413,079 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,722,894. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.56 and a 200 day simple moving average of $40.63. 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 cap of $23.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.24, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.55 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on FE. UBS Group raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $48.00 price target (up from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.00.

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.