FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target Lowered to $40.00 at Scotiabank

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its target price lowered by Scotiabank from $41.00 to $40.00 in a report released on Monday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on FE. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a buy rating and a $45.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut FirstEnergy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:FE opened at $38.58 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $37.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.09. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $32.18 and a 52 week high of $41.15. The company has a market capitalization of $22.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. The firm’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.50 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 90.61%.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. TI Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 35.8% during the first quarter. TI Trust Inc. now owns 10,255 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $396,000 after buying an additional 2,703 shares during the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.1% during the first quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 93,382 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,606,000 after buying an additional 4,523 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 3.3% during the first quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 22,200 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $857,000 after buying an additional 713 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.1% during the first quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 96,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,729,000 after buying an additional 4,715 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth about $225,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.