FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Given New $40.00 Price Target at Scotiabank

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price objective cut by Scotiabank from $41.00 to $40.00 in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a sector perform rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a buy rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered FirstEnergy from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $40.33.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of FE opened at $38.21 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $21.99 billion, a PE ratio of 21.11 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $37.05. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $32.18 and a 1-year high of $41.17.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 6th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.45%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 90.61%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 27.3% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,018,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,810,000 after purchasing an additional 218,439 shares during the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.6% during the 3rd quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 866 shares during the last quarter. Comerica Bank boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 11,260.9% during the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 137,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,703,000 after purchasing an additional 136,370 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 26,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 447.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 372,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 304,000 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.