FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Lowered to $44.00 at Scotiabank

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price target cut by Scotiabank from $50.00 to $44.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector outperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Scotiabank’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 13.43% from the company’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.33.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.79. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,194,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,707,559. The company has a market cap of $22.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.03, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $40.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.77. FirstEnergy has a 52-week low of $36.01 and a 52-week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,253,000. Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Ascent Group LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 39,823 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,584,000 after buying an additional 958 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 215,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,591,000 after buying an additional 8,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $206,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.