FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.45 Per Share

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) announced a quarterly dividend on Wednesday, March 19th, RTT News reports. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of 0.445 per share by the utilities provider on Sunday, June 1st. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.50%. This is a 4.7% increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43.

FirstEnergy has increased its dividend payment by an average of 2.6% annually over the last three years. FirstEnergy has a dividend payout ratio of 60.1% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. 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 Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $39.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.56. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $36.81 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $39.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $41.38. The company has a market capitalization of $22.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.53, a PEG ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. Analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Guggenheim lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.33.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

An institutional investor recently bought a new position in FirstEnergy stock. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 6,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $256,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently 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.