FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Cut to $45.00 by Analysts at Guggenheim

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Free Report) had its price target decreased by Guggenheim from $52.00 to $45.00 in a research report report published on Friday,Benzinga reports. Guggenheim currently has a buy rating on the utilities provider's stock.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank raised FirstEnergy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp decreased their price target on 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 cut shares of FirstEnergy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $45.33.

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FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock traded down $0.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $39.32. The stock had a trading volume of 9,175,773 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,965,726. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $36.26 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The firm has a market cap of $22.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.36, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The business's fifty day moving average is $40.07 and its 200-day moving average is $41.72.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. On average, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.00%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 293.0% in the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.