FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Stock Price Crosses Above 200-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE)’s share price passed above its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $47.51 and traded as high as $47.71. FirstEnergy shares last traded at $47.6580, with a volume of 5,801,370 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, October 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research note on Monday. New Street Research set a $47.00 price target on FirstEnergy in a research report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $50.77.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $27.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.29, a P/E/G ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.39. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $45.47 and a 200 day simple moving average of $47.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 0.38 and a quick ratio of 0.31.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, October 27th. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.90 by $0.08. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.07% and a net margin of 7.40%. The firm had revenue of $4.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.83 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 6th will be given a dividend of $0.4650 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 6th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.9%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 89.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. AlphaCore Capital LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 191.3% in the third quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 12,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $541,000 after acquiring an additional 8,194 shares in the last quarter. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 107.3% in the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 48,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,107,000 after buying an additional 25,163 shares during the last quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 530.2% during the 3rd quarter. Axiom Investment Management LLC now owns 3,258 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,000 after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 15.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 242,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,528,000 after buying an additional 33,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.4% in the third quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 6,413 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $278,000 after purchasing an additional 326 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

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.