FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) PT Raised to $51.00 at Morgan Stanley

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its target price raised by Morgan Stanley from $48.00 to $51.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an equal weight rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Mizuho upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a sector perform rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of $44.45.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $44.05 on Wednesday. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $32.18 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $42.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $40.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 97.70%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 9,773,785 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,517,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $367,423,000 after purchasing an additional 218,165 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,930,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $344,908,000 after buying an additional 82,482 shares during the period. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,557,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,152,000 after buying an additional 69,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,454,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $126,637,000 after buying an additional 590,815 shares during the period. 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.