FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Lowered to "Hold" Rating by Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Thursday, Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for FirstEnergy's FY2024 earnings at $2.67 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.90 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.11 EPS.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on FE. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a "hold" rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.2 %

FE traded down $0.09 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $41.74. The stock had a trading volume of 3,610,340 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,944,034. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $34.92 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $24.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $43.65 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.05.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The company had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. FirstEnergy's payout ratio is 109.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Balanced Wealth Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 4.4% in the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,701,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by 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.