FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Raised to $35.00

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

Several other analysts have also commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a buy rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a sector perform rating for the company in a report on Monday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.7 %

FE opened at $38.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $37.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $37.09. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $32.18 and a 1-year high of $41.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.50 EPS. The business’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 90.61%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 38.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 68,155,129 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,498,567,000 after purchasing an additional 18,853,983 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 31.1% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 15,827,860 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $540,996,000 after acquiring an additional 3,756,228 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 3.1% in the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 13,573,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $463,950,000 after acquiring an additional 407,350 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,930,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $344,908,000 after acquiring an additional 82,482 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the third quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 5,543,375 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $189,473,000 after acquiring an additional 92,561 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.