Argus upgrades FirstEnergy to Buy on recovery from ‘wrongdoing’

As previously reported, Argus upgraded FirstEnergy to Buy from Hold with a $50 price target. The company reached settlements with state prosecutors in August and with the SEC in September, with the $100M civil penalty taken as a reserve in Q2, the analyst tells investors in a research note. FirstEnergy also reached a rate settlement agreement for rate hikes in Pennsylvania in Q2, Argus adds. The firm says that as the company “recovers from its past wrongdoing,” it should return to “solid fundamentals with strong earnings growth potential.” The stock’s current yield of 3.9% is at the high-end of the average for peers, Argus contends.