FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Given New $49.00 Price Target at Barclays

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price target dropped by equities researchers at Barclays from $54.00 to $49.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 8.16% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FE. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Mizuho set a $47.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $51.73.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE FE traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $45.30. 2,797,351 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,655,625. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $45.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.21. FirstEnergy has a 52-week low of $42.67 and a 52-week high of $52.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $26.22 billion, a PE ratio of 24.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.51% and a net margin of 6.86%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.52 EPS. Analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Simplicity Wealth LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 3.4% during the first quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the period. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 44.4% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the second quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.5% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.7% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 1,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. is an electric utility holding company focused primarily on regulated electricity transmission and distribution. Through its operating companies, the company delivers electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the infrastructure needed to support reliable service.

FirstEnergy’s utility subsidiaries include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company and Toledo Edison in Ohio; Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power in Pennsylvania; Jersey Central Power & Light in New Jersey; and Mon Power and Potomac Edison in West Virginia and Maryland.