Brokerages Set FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) PT at $46.27

Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the twelve brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $46.27.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $39.10 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $40.69 and a 200-day moving average of $41.75. The company has a market cap of $22.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $35.41 and a 1 year high of $44.97.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after buying an additional 241 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 4.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $750,000 after purchasing an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.