FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at BMO Capital Markets

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) was upgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday, Zacks reports.

FE has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Barclays cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Wall Street Zen raised FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. HSBC assumed coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE opened at $46.13 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88. The stock has a market cap of $26.69 billion, a PE ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.43. FirstEnergy has a 12-month low of $42.67 and a 12-month high of $52.34. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $45.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.45.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the business earned $0.52 EPS. Analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FE. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,878,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 6,066.6% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 495,299 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,547,000 after acquiring an additional 487,267 shares during the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth $1,033,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 612.9% during the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 93,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,441,000 after acquiring an additional 80,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 32.9% during the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,141,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $54,332,000 after purchasing an additional 282,866 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is an electric utility company focused on the transmission and distribution of electricity. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the poles, lines, substations and other infrastructure that support electric service.

FirstEnergy’s distribution operations serve customers across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland. Its utility companies include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Jersey Central Power & Light, Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn Power, Mon Power and The Potomac Edison Company.