FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) have received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the ten research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $44.55.

FE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Mizuho raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $44.34 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.26. The firm has a market cap of $25.52 billion, a PE ratio of 25.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.83%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.70%.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% during the 1st quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 610 shares in the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% in the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 615 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during 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.