FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Rating Lowered to “Hold” at Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday morning, Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for FirstEnergy’s FY2024 earnings at $2.67 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.90 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.11 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on FE. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Argus raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays upped their target price 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. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.2 %

FirstEnergy stock opened at $41.73 on Thursday. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $34.92 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.14. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 109.68%.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Balanced Wealth Group LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the period. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 4.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.7% during the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.