FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and seven have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $52.8333.

FE has been the subject of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $53.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 21st. TD Cowen raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $56.00 to $53.00 in a report on Friday, May 15th. Barclays reduced their price target on FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings cut FirstEnergy from a “buy (b)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 11,305.6% during the fourth quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 1,974,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $81,699,000 after purchasing an additional 1,957,673 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 42.8% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 85,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,817,000 after buying an additional 25,571 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 6,066.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 495,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,547,000 after buying an additional 487,267 shares during the last quarter. BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $15,172,000. Finally, Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at approximately $9,878,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $45.88 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.86 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.29. The stock has a market cap of $26.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a current ratio of 0.54, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $42.87 and a 1 year high of $52.34.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (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 last year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th will be paid a $0.465 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 98.94%.

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.