FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at BMO Capital Markets

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) was upgraded by analysts at BMO Capital Markets to a “strong-buy” rating in a report released on Monday, Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho set a $47.00 price target on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, October 12th. Wall Street Zen raised FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, September 19th. HSBC began coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $50.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, October 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $46.13 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.88, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.54. The company has a 50-day moving average of $45.50 and a 200-day moving average of $47.45. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $42.67 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a market capitalization of $26.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.54, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.43.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.50 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50. The firm had revenue of $3.68 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.51 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.86% and a return on equity of 10.51%. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.52 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in FE. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.5% in the first quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,971,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $508,158,000 after buying an additional 694,449 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 11.9% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 5,396,317 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $273,377,000 after acquiring an additional 573,731 shares during the period. Electron Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in FirstEnergy by 103.2% in the 1st quarter. Electron Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,991,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $151,570,000 after acquiring an additional 1,519,737 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 2,719,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,292,000 after acquiring an additional 59,097 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,627,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $133,116,000 after acquiring an additional 35,259 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is an electric utility company focused on the transmission and distribution of electricity. Through its regulated utility subsidiaries, the company delivers power to residential, commercial and industrial customers and maintains the poles, lines, substations and other infrastructure that support electric service.

FirstEnergy’s distribution operations serve customers across parts of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia and Maryland. Its utility companies include Ohio Edison, The Illuminating Company, Toledo Edison, Jersey Central Power & Light, Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power, West Penn Power, Mon Power and The Potomac Edison Company.