FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Raises Dividend to $0.45 Per Share

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 19th, RTT News reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.445 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, June 1st. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This is a 4.7% increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43.

FirstEnergy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.6% per year over the last three years. FirstEnergy has a payout ratio of 60.1% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Analysts expect FirstEnergy to earn $2.89 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.8%.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:FE opened at $39.80 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $39.93 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.37. The company has a market cap of $22.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.68, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have issued reports on FE shares. Guggenheim decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.17.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in FirstEnergy stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 6,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.