FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Raised to $48.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price objective increased by research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $47.00 to $48.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 13.54% from the company’s current price.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FE. UBS Group upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Mizuho set a $43.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America upgraded FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $42.28 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $41.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.62. The stock has a market cap of $24.40 billion, a PE ratio of 27.27, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. FirstEnergy has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.68 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.55 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $516,360.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,919 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,299,514.57. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.17% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Arkadios Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $202,000. HB Wealth Management LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 34.6% in the 4th quarter. HB Wealth Management LLC now owns 9,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 2,454 shares during the period. Dakota Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 28.7% during the fourth quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $294,000 after buying an additional 1,646 shares in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 46.8% in the 4th quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,646 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $65,000 after acquiring an additional 525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $664,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

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.