Brokerages Set FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Price Target at $45.00

Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $45.00.

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. KeyCorp decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FE. Wedge Capital Management L L P NC bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $12,198,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 7.9% during the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $104,057,000 after acquiring an additional 171,955 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the third quarter worth $1,154,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 41.8% during the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 47,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,902,000 after purchasing an additional 14,129 shares during the period. Finally, Whalen Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at $664,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock opened at $39.41 on Tuesday. FirstEnergy has a 12-month low of $36.81 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The company has a market capitalization of $22.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $39.89 and its 200 day moving average price is $41.18.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). The business 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 forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.52%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

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.