Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Acquires 6,357 Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 15.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 48,326 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 6,357 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,922,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $750,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the period. Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $205,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.0% during the 4th 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, Essex Financial Services Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% during the 4th quarter. Essex Financial Services Inc. now owns 5,819 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $231,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on FE. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE traded down $0.20 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $39.62. The stock had a trading volume of 7,363,740 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,248,245. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. FirstEnergy Corp. has a 52 week low of $36.81 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $39.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.37. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

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.