FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Raised to $45.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price target increased by Wells Fargo & Company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on FE. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. StockNews.com raised shares of FirstEnergy from a sell rating to a hold rating in a report on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a buy rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $40.92.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.8 %

Shares of FirstEnergy stock opened at $43.44 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.56. The company has a 50-day moving average of $39.32 and a 200 day moving average of $38.42. The firm has a market cap of $25.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.53, a PEG ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.49. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $43.65.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.56. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 97.70%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Pacific Advisors LP raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.0% during the second quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,557,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $136,152,000 after buying an additional 69,512 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in FirstEnergy by 19.7% in the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 205,943 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,890,000 after purchasing an additional 33,848 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in FirstEnergy by 2.5% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 201,948 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,729,000 after purchasing an additional 5,000 shares during the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 6.8% in the second quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 118,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,920,000 after purchasing an additional 7,514 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.1% during the second quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 36,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,397,000 after buying an additional 402 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

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.