FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Receives $46.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and four have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FE. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $43.68 on Friday. FirstEnergy has a twelve month low of $34.92 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $25.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $43.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.00.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 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 paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 120.57%.

About FirstEnergy

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.