FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the nine research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, four have given a hold recommendation and four have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $39.80.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Scotiabank dropped their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE opened at $39.24 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $22.58 billion, a PE ratio of 22.55 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $37.93 and a 200-day moving average price of $37.21. FirstEnergy has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $40.42.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 8.22%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 94.25%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MGO One Seven LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.7% during the third quarter. MGO One Seven LLC now owns 6,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $220,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $193,000 after buying an additional 290 shares during the period. Marcum Wealth LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.8% in the first quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 7,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Greenleaf Trust grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.1% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $137,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.