Morgan Stanley Lowers FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target to $48.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price target reduced by Morgan Stanley from $52.00 to $48.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 21.17% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research firms also recently commented on FE. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.5 %

FE stock opened at $39.62 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $22.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.56, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $36.81 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $39.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. On average, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Covestor Ltd grew its position in FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% during the third quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares during the period. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co grew its position in FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the fourth quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 586 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About FirstEnergy

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.