FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Posts Earnings Results, Misses Estimates By $0.02 EPS

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE – Get Rating) announced its earnings results on Thursday. The utilities provider reported $0.60 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $0.62 by ($0.02), RTT News reports. The firm had revenue of $3 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.85 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 18.38% and a net margin of 11.52%. FirstEnergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.69 EPS.

Shares of FE stock traded down $0.34 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $48.12. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,652,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,450,501. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.25 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.20. The company has a market capitalization of $27.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.48, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.35. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $35.42 and a fifty-two week high of $48.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.67, a current ratio of 0.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.56.

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 6th will be issued a $0.39 dividend. This represents a $1.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.24%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 5th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 66.38%.

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FE. Zullo Investment Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at $44,000. Toroso Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $256,000. Horizon Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter valued at $427,000. JustInvest LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. JustInvest LLC now owns 16,295 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $678,000 after acquiring an additional 1,371 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 22,564 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $938,000 after acquiring an additional 2,842 shares in the last quarter. 87.82% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on FE. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised FirstEnergy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $46.00 in a research report on Friday, January 7th. StockNews.com assumed coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, March 31st. They set a “hold” rating on the stock. Finally, Zacks Investment Research raised FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.38.

FirstEnergy Company Profile (Get Rating)

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, natural gas, wind, and solar power generating facilities.

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