FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Lowered to Hold Rating by Seaport Res Ptn

Seaport Res Ptn lowered shares of FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday, Zacks.com reports. Seaport Res Ptn also issued estimates for FirstEnergy’s FY2024 earnings at $2.67 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.90 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.11 EPS.

FE has been the subject of several other research reports. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Monday, October 14th. They set a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Scotiabank raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE FE opened at $41.82 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $24.10 billion, a PE ratio of 26.98, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $34.92 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.65 and a 200-day moving average of $41.05.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.91 by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FE. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% in the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 610 shares during the period. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% in the second quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Livelsberger Financial Advisory bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the first quarter valued at about $36,000. 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.