FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Upgraded at Barclays

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) was upgraded by research analysts at Barclays from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $49.00 target price on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their previous target price of $43.00. Barclays‘s price target suggests a potential upside of 12.01% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Evercore ISI increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down previously from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, UBS Group set a $44.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.31.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $43.7450 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.26 billion, a PE ratio of 19.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $41.47 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.51. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $37.58 and a 12 month high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 9.31%.During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. State of Wyoming acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth about $26,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth about $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 186.4% during the second quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 440 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.