FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Raised to $43.00 at UBS Group

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its target price hoisted by analysts at UBS Group from $41.00 to $43.00 in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. UBS Group’s target price points to a potential upside of 8.64% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on FE. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.6 %

FirstEnergy stock traded down $0.23 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.58. The stock had a trading volume of 1,213,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,094,625. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $36.81 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $39.93 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.83 billion, a PE ratio of 25.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FE. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the third quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. DRW Securities LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the third quarter worth about $1,154,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 41.8% during the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 14,129 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $664,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

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.