FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Raised to $35.00 at Bank of America

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price target raised by Bank of America from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report released on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a buy rating and a $45.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.2 %

Shares of FE opened at $38.12 on Tuesday. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $32.18 and a 1-year high of $41.17. The company has a 50-day moving average of $37.76 and a 200 day moving average of $37.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.38.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

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 given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.46%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 93.92%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Citigroup Inc. grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,018,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,810,000 after buying an additional 218,439 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in FirstEnergy by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $418,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank grew its position in FirstEnergy by 11,260.9% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 137,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,703,000 after purchasing an additional 136,370 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its position in FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 26,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $899,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP grew its position in FirstEnergy by 447.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 372,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 304,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

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.