FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Cut to “Peer Perform” at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research cut shares of FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) from an outperform rating to a peer perform rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports.

FE has been the topic of several other reports. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $39.18 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $35.41 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.77.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.67 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Investors of record on Friday, February 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.34%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 109.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 339,439 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,990,000 after acquiring an additional 11,274 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,896,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,570,000 after purchasing an additional 104,253 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 28.9% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 577,589 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $22,104,000 after purchasing an additional 129,444 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 8.7% during the second quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 86,468 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,309,000 after buying an additional 6,908 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Sector Pension Investment Board increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 52.7% in the 2nd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 87,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,361,000 after buying an additional 30,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

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.