Morgan Stanley Cuts FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target to $49.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its target price dropped by Morgan Stanley from $52.00 to $49.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 8.04% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 5th. UBS Group increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on FirstEnergy from $55.00 to $54.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $52.58.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $45.35. 1,130,544 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,655,474. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $43.00 and a fifty-two week high of $52.34. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $47.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $47.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a current ratio of 0.54 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $26.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.13, a P/E/G ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.45.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.52 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth $26,000. Highland Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Western Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth about $37,000. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 44.4% during the first quarter. Pinnacle Bancorp Inc. now owns 754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 232 shares during the period. Finally, Gunpowder Capital Management LLC dba Oliver Wealth Management bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is an electric utility holding company focused on the transmission and distribution of electricity. Through its regulated operating companies, the company delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the local infrastructure needed to support reliable electric service.

FirstEnergy’s utility operations include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn Power, Jersey Central Power & Light and Mon Power, among others.