FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Now Covered by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) in a report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage issued a hold rating and a $46.00 price objective on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently issued reports on FE. Barclays lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Argus raised FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.82.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.9 %

FE opened at $43.49 on Monday. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $34.73 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a current ratio of 0.51. The company has a market capitalization of $25.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.99, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.50. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $43.50 and a 200-day moving average of $40.69.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 615 shares during the period. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.