FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.45 on June 1st

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 19th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.445 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, June 1st. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a 4.7% increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43.

FirstEnergy has raised its dividend by an average of 2.6% annually over the last three years. FirstEnergy has a payout ratio of 60.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect FirstEnergy to earn $2.89 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 58.8%.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $39.80 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $36.81 and a fifty-two week 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $39.93 and a 200-day moving average of $41.37.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. Equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in FirstEnergy stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 6,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FE shares. Guggenheim lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.17.

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.