FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Raised to $47.00 at Guggenheim

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Free Report) had its price target boosted by Guggenheim from $45.00 to $47.00 in a report published on Monday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a buy rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reduced 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. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Scotiabank decreased 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. Finally, Wolfe Research cut FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $45.17.

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FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE traded up $0.50 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $40.59. 4,344,177 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,437,173. The company has a market capitalization of $23.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy has a one year low of $36.81 and a one year high of $44.97. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $39.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $40.81.

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

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.39%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.71%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FE. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 65,843,901 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,619,270,000 after acquiring an additional 508,570 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $656,309,000 after purchasing an additional 6,991,866 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 12,527,440 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $497,009,000 after purchasing an additional 329,049 shares in the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,318,905 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $371,911,000 after buying an additional 220,433 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 60.2% during the fourth quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 8,340,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $331,795,000 after buying an additional 3,133,083 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.