FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Receives $45.17 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the fourteen brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $45.75.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on FE shares. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Bank of America raised FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Friday.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares during the period. Finally, Bernard Wealth Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.2 %

FirstEnergy stock opened at $42.36 on Friday. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The stock has a market cap of $24.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $40.20 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.70. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. As a group, equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.20%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.71%.

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.