FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Increases Dividend to $0.45 Per Share

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 19th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.445 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, June 1st. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.49%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a 4.7% increase from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43.

FirstEnergy has increased its dividend by an average of 2.6% per year over the last three years. FirstEnergy has a dividend payout ratio of 63.6% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect FirstEnergy to earn $2.89 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.78 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 61.6%.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FirstEnergy stock traded down $0.20 on Friday, hitting $39.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,459,337 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,127,119. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $36.81 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $39.95 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.32. The company has a market capitalization of $22.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.53 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in FirstEnergy stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,441 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $256,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on FE. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $45.00.

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.