FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Raised to $46.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price target lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $45.00 to $46.00 in a research report report published on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

FE has been the topic of a number of other reports. Argus raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE opened at $43.69 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.14 billion, a PE ratio of 25.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.27 and a beta of 0.50. FirstEnergy has a 52-week low of $34.73 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $43.56 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 97.70%.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FE. Sachetta LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 249 shares during the period. Balanced Wealth Group LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after purchasing an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $193,000 after purchasing an additional 290 shares during the period. Finally, Greenleaf Trust lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 3.1% in the first quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $376,000 after purchasing an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.