FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Cut to $50.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $52.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. KeyCorp upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Barclays upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of FE stock opened at $42.04 on Friday. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $35.41 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The firm has a market cap of $24.23 billion, a PE ratio of 27.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.51. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $42.83 and a 200-day moving average of $41.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FE. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the second 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 bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the third quarter worth $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

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.