FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) Receives $48.75 Consensus PT from Analysts

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $48.6667.

FE has been the subject of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, December 29th. KeyCorp lowered FirstEnergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Citigroup assumed coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 7th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price target for the company.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $256,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth $289,000. Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.0% during the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 43,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.8% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE opened at $47.35 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $27.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.68, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80. FirstEnergy has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $48.20. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $45.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $44.56.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 9.19%.The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.85 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 6th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 77.73%.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company’s primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid?Atlantic. FirstEnergy’s service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy’s core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.