FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Receives $46.27 Average PT from Analysts

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve 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 five have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.27.

Several research firms have recently issued reports on FE. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Argus raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $39.16 on Friday. FirstEnergy has a one year low of $35.41 and a one year high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.26, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $41.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.60.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,417.3% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 743,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,965,000 after purchasing an additional 694,313 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after buying an additional 457,231 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth $14,933,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 1,178.5% during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 286,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,977,000 after acquiring an additional 264,389 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4,445.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 219,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,732,000 after acquiring an additional 214,606 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.