Wells Fargo & Company Increases FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target to $44.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) had its price target lifted by equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company from $41.00 to $44.00 in a note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an "equal weight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would suggest a potential upside of 2.54% from the company's previous close.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on FE. Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Guggenheim increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, April 7th. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE:FE traded down $0.16 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $42.91. 5,327,573 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,443,141. FirstEnergy has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $40.28 and a 200 day moving average of $40.69. The stock has a market cap of $24.75 billion, a PE ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.55 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cerity Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 29.0% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 359,028 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $14,512,000 after purchasing an additional 80,802 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the first quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 606,500 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $24,515,000 after acquiring an additional 4,920 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 7.4% in the first quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 5,136 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the period. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 28.1% during the first quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,491 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,313,000 after acquiring an additional 7,135 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Twelve Points Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,781 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $638,000 after purchasing an additional 1,540 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

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.