FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) PT Raised to $43.00 at Bank of America

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price target boosted by analysts at Bank of America from $42.00 to $43.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “underperform” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective indicates a potential downside of 1.35% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on FE. Scotiabank increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 23rd. Mizuho increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, June 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $43.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE FE traded down $0.19 on Thursday, hitting $43.59. 775,593 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,931,712. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $40.52 and a 200 day moving average of $39.14. FirstEnergy has a twelve month low of $32.18 and a twelve month high of $43.94. The company has a market capitalization of $25.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.49.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FE. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Beacon Pointe Advisors LLC now owns 37,050 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,358,000 after purchasing an additional 376 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 187,964 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,259,000 after acquiring an additional 54,990 shares in the last quarter. Lumbard & Kellner LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth about $2,418,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its stake 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 valued at $51,572,000 after acquiring an additional 67,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,481,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $127,623,000 after purchasing an additional 45,350 shares in the last quarter. 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.