FirstEnergy (FE) to Release Quarterly Earnings on Thursday

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) is scheduled to issue its quarterly earnings data after the market closes on Thursday, April 25th. Analysts expect the company to announce earnings of $0.71 per share for the quarter. Investors interested in registering for the company’s conference call can do so using this link.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. The company’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. On average, analysts expect FirstEnergy to post $3 EPS for the current fiscal year and $3 EPS for the next fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE opened at $37.45 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.69 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $36.92. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.48 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. FirstEnergy has a 12-month low of $32.18 and a 12-month high of $41.17.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 90.61%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 7.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,214,574 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,128,322,000 after acquiring an additional 4,443,050 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.7% in the first quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 11,526,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $460,739,000 after acquiring an additional 300,442 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 9,804,657 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $359,439,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339,220 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 7,515,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $315,190,000 after acquiring an additional 177,489 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 5,626,532 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $206,269,000 after acquiring an additional 269,221 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com lowered FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.38.

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.