FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Rating Lowered to “Peer Perform” at Wolfe Research

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wolfe Research from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, October 14th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.4 %

NYSE:FE opened at $39.18 on Thursday. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $35.41 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $40.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.97 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The firm had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.88 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.67 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after acquiring an additional 457,231 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 3,546,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $153,081,000 after acquiring an additional 34,151 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.9% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,346,263 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $104,057,000 after purchasing an additional 171,955 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.8% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,896,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $72,570,000 after acquiring an additional 104,253 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 1,622,544 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,960,000 after purchasing an additional 5,500 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

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.