FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Receives $45.00 Consensus PT from Analysts

Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) have been given a consensus rating of “Hold” by the fifteen ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eight have assigned a hold recommendation and six have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.00.

FE has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE opened at $39.41 on Tuesday. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a PE ratio of 25.42, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.18. 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 (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during 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 research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.52%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.