FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) Stock Has Consensus Price Target of $50.82

Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) have received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $50.83.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on FE. HSBC initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $46.16 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $42.67 and a 1-year high of $52.34. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $45.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.88. The firm has a market capitalization of $26.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.43.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 company earned $0.52 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a $0.4650 dividend. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.94%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FE. Bryn Mawr Trust Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,878,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 487,267 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth $1,033,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 612.9% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 93,410 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,441,000 after buying an additional 80,308 shares during the period. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 32.9% in the second quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,141,365 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $54,332,000 after buying an additional 282,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

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.