FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Reaches New 52-Week High at $41.99

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $41.99 and last traded at $41.63, with a volume of 168380 shares. The stock had previously closed at $41.80.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.55.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.3 %

The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $39.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $38.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $24.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.49.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 12.45%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that FirstEnergy Corp. will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 97.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 37,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth about $1,644,000. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 41.4% during the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 187,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,259,000 after buying an additional 54,990 shares in the last quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth about $2,418,000. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 5.3% during the 1st quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,335,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,572,000 after buying an additional 67,469 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.