UBS Group Increases FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target to $43.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price objective upped by UBS Group from $41.00 to $43.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. UBS Group currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank dropped their target price 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $39.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $36.81 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $39.95 and a 200-day moving average of $41.30. The company has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a PE ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 104.71%.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FE. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth $4,253,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Ascent Group LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 39,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,584,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.3% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 215,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after purchasing an additional 8,871 shares during the period. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $206,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.