FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) Given Average Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) has received an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $46.00.

FE has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Mizuho set a $43.00 price objective on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, April 28th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 99,919 shares in the company, valued at $4,299,514.57. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 183 shares in the company, valued at $7,680.51. The trade was a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in FE. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter valued at about $27,000. TruNorth Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 226.9% during the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 490 shares during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $39.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $23.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.39. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.34, a current ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.23 and a 200-day moving average of $40.47.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 7.78% and a return on equity of 11.49%. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

About FirstEnergy

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.