FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) shares reached a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $43.72 and last traded at $43.7050, with a volume of 2239346 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $44.73.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on FE. Barclays decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. UBS Group raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $52.58.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 2.4%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $47.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a market capitalization of $25.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.21, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.45.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The business had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.52 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.465 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 7th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.3%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Simplicity Wealth LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 6,839 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $346,000 after acquiring an additional 223 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 44.4% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 232 shares in the last quarter. IFP Advisors Inc increased its position in FirstEnergy by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 7,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,000 after buying an additional 244 shares during the period. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Elevation Point Wealth Partners LLC now owns 25,572 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,216,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Finally, CX Institutional raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.5% in the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 7,776 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is an electric utility holding company focused on the transmission and distribution of electricity. Through its regulated operating companies, the company delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the local infrastructure needed to support reliable electric service.

FirstEnergy’s utility operations include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn Power, Jersey Central Power & Light and Mon Power, among others.