Morgan Stanley Raises FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target to $51.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) had its target price hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $48.00 to $51.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the utilities provider's stock. Morgan Stanley's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 16.54% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on FE. Bank of America increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Mizuho increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Barclays raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 9th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $44.45.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.3 %

FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $43.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 870,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,952,425. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $42.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. FirstEnergy has a 52-week low of $32.18 and a 52-week high of $44.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.13, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.56. The company 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 business posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 38.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 68,155,129 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,498,567,000 after acquiring an additional 18,853,983 shares during the last quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of 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 last quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 63.4% during the 1st quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,328,210 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $51,295,000 after buying an additional 515,458 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at approximately $14,933,000. Finally, Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the first quarter worth approximately $12,631,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

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.

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