Morgan Stanley Lowers FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target to $50.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price objective cut by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $52.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 18.99% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on FE. Barclays raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Seaport Res Ptn downgraded FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Argus upgraded FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.91.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE FE traded down $0.18 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $42.02. The stock had a trading volume of 530,330 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,936,989. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. The company has a market capitalization of $24.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.51. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $42.93 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.40. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $35.41 and a 52 week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The business had revenue of $3.73 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.88 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of FE. Balanced Wealth Group LLC increased its position in FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Sachetta LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 36.0% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares during the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 4.4% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $750,000 after buying an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,701,000 after buying an additional 310 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.