FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) Stock Rated "Moderate Buy" by Sell-Side Analysts

Key Points

• FirstEnergy has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating from 13 analysts, with seven buy ratings and six holds. The average 12-month price target is $52.58, above the reported opening price of $43.31.
• The company reported quarterly EPS of $0.50, matching analyst expectations, while revenue of $3.68 billion exceeded the $3.51 billion consensus estimate. Analysts expect full-year EPS of approximately $2.74.
• FirstEnergy pays a quarterly dividend of $0.465 per share, equivalent to an annualized $1.86 dividend and a 4.3% yield. Institutional investors and hedge funds own approximately 89.41% of the stock.

Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) have been assigned a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the thirteen research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $52.58.

FE has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Barclays dropped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of FirstEnergy from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b-)" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of FE opened at $43.31 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.04, a PEG ratio of 2.50 and a beta of 0.45. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $42.81 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $46.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $47.69. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.4650 per share. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 7th. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is 98.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FE. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth $123,018,000. Energy Income Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter valued at $97,602,000. Electron Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 103.2% during the 1st 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 period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $62,161,000. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.5% during the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,971,706 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $508,158,000 after purchasing an additional 694,449 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. NYSE: FE is an electric utility holding company focused on the transmission and distribution of electricity. Through its regulated operating companies, the company delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the local infrastructure needed to support reliable electric service.

FirstEnergy's utility operations include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn Power, Jersey Central Power & Light and Mon Power, among others.

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.