FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Receives $46.00 Consensus PT from Brokerages

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) has received an average rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.91.

FE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $42.28 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.37 billion, a PE ratio of 27.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.51. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $42.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.48. FirstEnergy has a 52-week low of $35.41 and a 52-week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Balanced Wealth Group LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares during the period. Metis Global Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $750,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

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.