FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Downgraded by Seaport Res Ptn to Hold

Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday, Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for FirstEnergy’s FY2024 earnings at $2.67 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.90 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.11 EPS.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on FE. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $41.82 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $34.92 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $24.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.65 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.05.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.91 by ($0.06). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.68%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.