FirstEnergy Corp. (FE) to Issue Quarterly Dividend of $0.43 on September 1st

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, July 24th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, August 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.425 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, September 1st. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, August 7th.

FirstEnergy has raised its dividend by an average of 0.4% annually over the last three years. FirstEnergy has a dividend payout ratio of 59.4% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect FirstEnergy to earn $2.89 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.70 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 58.8%.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

NYSE FE opened at $40.45 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.56, a current ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59. The stock has a market cap of $23.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.49. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $32.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $39.06 and a 200-day moving average of $38.26.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $3.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.36 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 8.22% and a return on equity of 12.45%. As a group, analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.69 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $44.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, June 24th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, June 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 29th. Scotiabank cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $40.55.

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.