FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and five have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.27.

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on FE. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Argus upgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $39.20 on Thursday. 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 stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $40.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.75. The stock has a market cap of $22.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $35.41 and a 1-year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.88 EPS. Analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.68%.

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.