Guggenheim Cuts FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target to $45.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price objective lowered by equities researchers at Guggenheim from $52.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “buy” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Guggenheim’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 17.94% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lowered 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. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.17.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock traded down $0.39 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $38.16. The stock had a trading volume of 2,938,660 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,517,266. The company has a 50-day moving average of $40.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 24.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $36.01 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 640 shares during the period. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 586 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.