FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.43

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of 0.425 per share by the utilities provider on Saturday, March 1st. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.32%.

FirstEnergy has increased its dividend by an average of 0.4% annually over the last three years. FirstEnergy has a payout ratio of 59.0% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect FirstEnergy to earn $2.90 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.6%.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.3 %

FE traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $39.33. 1,338,959 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,891,968. The company has a market cap of $22.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.51. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $42.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.64. FirstEnergy has a one year low of $35.41 and a one year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. FirstEnergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

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.