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FirstEnergy (FE) to Post Q4 Earnings: What's in the Offing?

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FirstEnergy Corporation (FE - Free Report) is scheduled to release fourth-quarter 2017 results after the closing bell on Feb 20. In the last quarter, the company reported a positive earnings surprise of 12.79%.

Let’s see how things are shaping up prior to this announcement.

Factors at Play

For fourth-quarter 2017, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for earnings is pegged at 69 cents, up 81.5% from the prior-year quarter tally. Earnings are anticipated to benefit from the approval of the rates case settlements for Met-Ed, Penelec, Penn Power and West Penn Power, with projected revenue growth of nearly $290 million annually.

FirstEnergy’s “Energizing the Future” plan to create a stronger distribution system for its customers will help upgrade and broaden the company’s transmission capabilities. The ongoing investments are expected to assist the company serve its expanding customer base, and provide reliable and affordable supplies of electricity.

The company remains well on track to successfully expand its regulated operations over the long term. In addition, FirstEnergy is progressing with its plan to convert into a fully regulated company by mid-2018.

Earnings Whispers

Our proven model does not conclusively show that FirstEnergy is likely to beat on earnings this quarter. That is because a stock needs to have both a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) to be able to beat consensus estimates. But that is not the case here, as you will see below.

You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Zacks ESP: Earnings ESP, which represents the difference between the Most Accurate estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate, is 0.00%.

Zacks Rank: FirstEnergy’s Zacks Rank #3 increases the possibility of a positive surprise, while an Earnings ESP of 0.00% makes a beat unlikely.

It should be noted that we caution against stocks with Zacks Ranks #4 or 5 (Sell rated) going into the earnings announcement, especially when the company is seeing negative estimate revisions.

FirstEnergy Corporation Price and EPS Surprise

 

FirstEnergy Corporation Price and EPS Surprise | FirstEnergy Corporation Quote

 

Stocks to Consider

Instead, here are a few players from the industry that have the right combination of elements to post an earnings beat this quarter.

NiSource, Inc (NI - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +1.45%. The company carries a Zacks Rank #3 and is slated to report fourth-quarter 2017 results on Feb 20.

Center Point Energy, Inc. (CNP - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +2.65%. It carries a Zacks Rank #2 and is scheduled to report fourth-quarter results on Feb 22. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.


Pinnacle West Capital Corporation (PNW - Free Report) has an Earnings ESP of +12.20%.  The company, which carries a Zacks Rank #3, is set to report fourth-quarter numbers on Feb 23.

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