FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fourteen ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $48.75.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on FE shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. KeyCorp downgraded FirstEnergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Wells Fargo & Company raised FirstEnergy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 24th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $256,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 42.5% in the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 41,815 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,690,000 after buying an additional 12,478 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 14.0% in the first quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 17,676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $714,000 after buying an additional 2,176 shares during the period. Comerica Bank lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 161,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,518,000 after buying an additional 12,997 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CreativeOne Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at $211,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $44.85 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $25.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.66. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $43.80. FirstEnergy has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $48.20. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.76 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.15% and a net margin of 9.19%.The business had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.94 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.85 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 77.73%.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

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.