Wells Fargo & Company Cuts FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target to $53.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its target price trimmed by Wells Fargo & Company from $54.00 to $53.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FE. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 21st. UBS Group dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 24th. KeyCorp cut FirstEnergy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $48.75.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $47.08 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.75. The firm has a market cap of $27.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.58. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $48.20.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.83 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by $0.07. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 9.19% and a return on equity of 11.15%. The firm had revenue of $4.15 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.94 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.85 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 6th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 6th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 77.73%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Networth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Apollon Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 46.0% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,529 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $382,000 after buying an additional 2,688 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $343,000. MH & Associates Securities Management Corp ADV bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $54,000. Finally, Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,423,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company’s primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid‑Atlantic. FirstEnergy’s service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy’s core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.