Bank of America Raises FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target to $35.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price objective lifted by Bank of America from $30.00 to $35.00 in a report published on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an underperform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the stock. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a buy rating and a $45.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of FE opened at $38.12 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a PE ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $32.18 and a 1 year high of $41.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.48. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $37.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $37.07.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.56% and a return on equity of 13.52%. The firm’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.50 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.46%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 93.92%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. United Asset Strategies Inc. grew its position in FirstEnergy by 7.5% in the 1st quarter. United Asset Strategies Inc. now owns 43,106 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in FirstEnergy by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 42,191 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,629,000 after buying an additional 3,817 shares during the last quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 8.5% in the first quarter. Stablepoint Partners LLC now owns 110,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,286,000 after acquiring an additional 8,662 shares during the period. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.7% in the first quarter. Confluence Wealth Services Inc. now owns 9,679 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $374,000 after acquiring an additional 433 shares during the period. Finally, PFG Investments LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at $627,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.