FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Stock Rating Lowered by Seaport Res Ptn

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) was downgraded by investment analysts at Seaport Res Ptn from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for FirstEnergy’s FY2024 earnings at $2.67 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.90 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.11 EPS.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price on the stock in a report on Friday, September 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $41.73 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $43.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $41.08. FirstEnergy has a twelve month low of $34.92 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released 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 company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.88 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 14.3% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 77,928,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,009,615,000 after purchasing an additional 9,773,785 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,417.3% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 743,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,965,000 after purchasing an additional 694,313 shares during the last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 63.4% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,328,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $51,295,000 after purchasing an additional 515,458 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after purchasing an additional 457,231 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,933,000. Hedge funds and other 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.