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 research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Scotiabank currently has a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com cut shares of FirstEnergy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a buy rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock 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 company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $37.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $37.09. The company has a market capitalization of $22.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.32 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $41.15.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The company’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

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

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Sachetta LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Scarborough Advisors LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 327.3% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. 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.