FirstEnergy Corp. Plans Quarterly Dividend of $0.43 (NYSE:FE)

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) declared a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, December 18th,RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.425 per share by the utilities provider on Saturday, March 1st. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 7th.

FirstEnergy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.6% annually over the last three years. FirstEnergy has a payout ratio of 55.0% 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 Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $40.01 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $40.10 and its 200-day moving average is $41.85. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $35.41 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market cap of $23.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.99 and a beta of 0.52.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Scotiabank upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.27.

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.