FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Given New $49.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $52.00 to $49.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 8.04% from the stock’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $52.58.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE stock traded down $0.38 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $45.35. 1,130,544 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,655,474. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $43.00 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average of $47.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $47.95. The firm has a market cap of $26.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The company had revenue of $3.68 billion for 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.74 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Tidal Investments LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 129.6% in the second quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 55,961 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,660,000 after purchasing an additional 31,591 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.2% during the second quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,014,031 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $48,207,000 after purchasing an additional 31,445 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 612.9% in the 2nd 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. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 54.0% in the 2nd quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 15,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $737,000 after buying an additional 5,440 shares during the period. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.4% in the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 35,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,676,000 after buying an additional 1,803 shares in the last quarter. 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.