FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Hits New 12-Month Low – Here’s Why

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) shares hit a new 52-week low on Tuesday. The company traded as low as $42.67 and last traded at $42.9980, with a volume of 3447871 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $43.30.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on FE. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded 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 report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $52.58.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $25.10 billion, a PE ratio of 23.08, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.45. The business’s 50-day moving average is $46.55 and its 200-day moving average is $47.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be paid a $0.4650 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.94%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 10.5% in the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 16,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $773,000 after acquiring an additional 1,550 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,134,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,479,000 after purchasing an additional 152,346 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 129.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 31,591 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service grew its position in FirstEnergy by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,014,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $48,207,000 after purchasing an additional 31,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its position in FirstEnergy by 612.9% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 93,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,441,000 after purchasing an additional 80,308 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

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

FirstEnergy’s utility subsidiaries include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison in Ohio; Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power in Pennsylvania; Jersey Central Power & Light in New Jersey; and Mon Power and Potomac Edison in West Virginia and Maryland.