FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Increased to $51.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $48.00 to $51.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on FE. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an underperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Barclays lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an equal weight rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $44.45.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE opened at $44.05 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.96 and a 200-day moving average of $40.19. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 97.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FE. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 41.4% during the first quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 187,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,259,000 after buying an additional 54,990 shares during the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,335,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,572,000 after acquiring an additional 67,469 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,481,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $127,623,000 after purchasing an additional 45,350 shares during the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $9,867,000. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.3% during the second quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 1,317,521 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $50,422,000 after purchasing an additional 42,484 shares during the last quarter. 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.