FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Raised to $46.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price objective increased by Barclays from $40.00 to $46.00 in a report released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on FE. Argus upgraded FirstEnergy from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $45.80.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $42.33 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a PEG 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. The business’s 50 day moving average is $43.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $40.50. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $34.73 and a 1-year high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.02%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 97.70%.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 3,815.2% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 23,648 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,049,000 after buying an additional 23,044 shares during the period. CCM Investment Advisers LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.6% in the third quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 294,768 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,073,000 after acquiring an additional 4,604 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 48.4% during the third quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 997 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 325 shares during the period. USA Financial Formulas acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at $72,000. Finally, CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.8% in the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 30,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,355,000 after acquiring an additional 843 shares in 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.