FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Upgraded to “Overweight” at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has $49.00 price target on the utilities provider’s stock, up from their prior price target of $43.00.

Several other research firms have also recently commented on FE. UBS Group set a $44.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $46.00 price target (down previously from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Mizuho upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.31.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.3%

NYSE:FE opened at $43.65 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a current ratio of 0.61 and a quick ratio of 0.51. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $41.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.07. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $25.20 billion, a PE ratio of 19.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.69 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The firm had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is 78.76%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth $25,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 186.4% in the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

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.