FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) have earned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, six have given a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $46.27.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped 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.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the third quarter worth $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $32,000. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.50 on Thursday, hitting $39.81. 2,548,256 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,297,211. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy has a 12-month low of $35.41 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.70. The company has a market cap of $22.94 billion, a PE ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.52.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.88 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 109.68%.

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.