FirstEnergy Corporation (FE) - What Are Investment Firms Thinking About This Stock?

Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) have been given an average rating of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and six have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $50.82.

Several research analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. Wall Street Zen raised FirstEnergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 18th. Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 12th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $45.70 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $45.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $46.99. FirstEnergy has a 52-week low of $42.67 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.43.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.50. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be issued a $0.4650 dividend. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is presently 98.94%.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 7.5% during the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,971,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $508,158,000 after acquiring an additional 694,449 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 11.9% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,396,317 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $273,377,000 after acquiring an additional 573,731 shares in the last quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 103.2% in the first quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,991,914 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $151,570,000 after purchasing an additional 1,519,737 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.4% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,627,745 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $133,116,000 after purchasing an additional 35,259 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 6.4% in the first quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON now owns 2,621,338 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $132,797,000 after purchasing an additional 156,920 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. NYSE: FE is an electric utility company focused on the transmission and distribution of electricity. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the poles, lines, substations and other infrastructure that support electric service.

FirstEnergy's distribution operations serve customers across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland. Its utility companies include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Jersey Central Power & Light, Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn Power, Mon Power and The Potomac Edison Company.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.