Firstenergy Stock Beneish M Score

FE Stock  USD 42.05  0.26  0.62%   
This module uses fundamental data of FirstEnergy to approximate the value of its Beneish M Score. FirstEnergy M Score tells investors if the company management is likely to be manipulating earnings. The score is calculated using eight financial indicators that are adjusted by a specific multiplier. Please note, the M Score is a probabilistic model and cannot detect companies that manipulate their earnings with 100% accuracy. Check out FirstEnergy Piotroski F Score and FirstEnergy Altman Z Score analysis.
For information on how to trade FirstEnergy Stock refer to our How to Trade FirstEnergy Stock guide.
  
At present, FirstEnergy's Long Term Debt is projected to increase significantly based on the last few years of reporting. At present, FirstEnergy's Days Sales Outstanding is projected to slightly decrease based on the last few years of reporting. The current year's Book Value Per Share is expected to grow to 26.06, whereas PTB Ratio is forecasted to decline to 1.46.
At this time, it appears that FirstEnergy is an unlikely manipulator. The earnings manipulation may begin if FirstEnergy's top management creates an artificial sense of financial success, forcing the stock price to be traded at a high price-earnings multiple than it should be. In general, excessive earnings management by FirstEnergy executives may lead to removing some of the operating profits from subsequent periods to inflate earnings in the following periods. This way, the manipulation of FirstEnergy's earnings can lead to misrepresentations of actual financial condition, taking the otherwise loyal stakeholders on to the path of questionable ethical practices and plain fraud.
-2.54
Beneish M Score - Unlikely Manipulator
Elasticity of Receivables

0.97

Focus
Asset Quality

0.98

Focus
Expense Coverage

0.94

Focus
Gross Margin Strengs

1.14

Focus
Accruals Factor

0.94

Focus
Depreciation Resistance

0.87

Focus
Net Sales Growth

1.01

Focus
Financial Leverage Condition

0.9

Focus

FirstEnergy Beneish M-Score Indicator Trends

The cure to earnings manipulation is the transparency of financial reporting. It will typically remove the temptation of the top executives to inflate earnings (i.e., to promote the idea of 'winning at any cost'). Because a healthy internal audit department can enhance transparency, the board should promote the auditors' access to all the record-keeping systems across the enterprise. For example, if FirstEnergy's auditors report directly to the board (not management), the managers will be reluctant to manipulate simply due to the fear of punishment. On the other hand, the auditors will be free to investigate the ledgers properly because they know that the board has their back.
Current ValueLast YearChange From Last Year 10 Year Trend
Net Receivables1.5 B1.6 B
Fairly Down
Very volatile
Total Revenue12.9 B12.9 B
Slightly Up
Very volatile
Total Assets41.1 B48.8 B
Fairly Down
Pretty Stable
Total Current Assets2.9 B2.6 B
Moderately Up
Very volatile
Non Current Assets Total38.2 B46.2 B
Significantly Down
Pretty Stable
Property Plant Equipment2.1 B2.2 B
Notably Down
Slightly volatile
Depreciation And Amortization1.4 B1.2 B
Fairly Up
Pretty Stable
Total Current Liabilities5.3 B5.4 B
Fairly Down
Very volatile
Non Current Liabilities Total23.8 B32.5 B
Way Down
Slightly volatile
Net Debt17.5 B24.8 B
Way Down
Slightly volatile
Short Term Debt2.6 BB
Significantly Up
Pretty Stable
Long Term Debt24 B22.9 B
Sufficiently Up
Slightly volatile
Total Cash From Operating Activities2.4 B1.4 B
Way Up
Very volatile
Long Term Investments629.9 M663 M
Notably Down
Slightly volatile
Gross Profit Margin0.730.639
Fairly Up
Slightly volatile

FirstEnergy Beneish M-Score Driver Matrix

One of the toughest challenges investors face today is learning how to quickly synthesize historical financial statements and information provided by the company, SEC reporting, and various external parties in order to detect the potential manipulation of earnings. Understanding the correlation between FirstEnergy's different financial indicators related to revenue, expenses, operating profit, and net earnings helps investors identify and prioritize their investing strategies towards FirstEnergy in a much-optimized way. Analyzing correlations between earnings drivers directly associated with dollar figures is the most effective way to find FirstEnergy's degree of accounting gimmicks and manipulations.

About FirstEnergy Beneish M Score

M-Score is one of many grading techniques for value stocks. It was developed by Professor M. Daniel Beneish of the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and published in 1999 under the paper titled The Detection of Earnings Manipulation. The Beneish score is a multi-factor model that utilizes financial identifiers to compile eight variables used to classify whether a company has manipulated its reported earnings. The variables are built from the officially filed financial statements to create a final score call 'M Score.' The score helps to identify companies that are likely to manipulate their profits if they show deteriorating gross margins, operating expenses, and leverage against growing revenue.

Current Deferred Revenue

215.65 Million

At present, FirstEnergy's Current Deferred Revenue is projected to decrease significantly based on the last few years of reporting.

FirstEnergy Earnings Manipulation Drivers

Although earnings manipulation is typically not the result of intentional misconduct by the c-level executives, it is still a widespread practice by the senior management of public companies such as FirstEnergy. It is usually done by a series of misrepresentations of various accounting rules and operating activities across multiple financial cycles. The best way to spot the manipulation is to examine the historical financial statement to find inconsistencies in earning reports to find trends in assets or liabilities that are not sustainable in the future.
201920202021202220232024 (projected)
Net Receivables1.3B1.4B1.3B1.6B1.6B1.5B
Total Revenue11.0B10.8B11.1B12.5B12.9B12.9B
Total Assets42.3B44.5B45.4B46.1B48.8B41.1B
Total Current Assets2.4B3.7B3.2B2.4B2.6B2.9B
Net Debt20.4B22.7B22.4B21.5B24.8B17.5B
Short Term Debt1.4B2.4B1.6B499M2.0B2.6B
Long Term Debt49M30M22.2B21.2B22.9B24.0B
Operating Income2.5B2.2B2.7B2.6B2.3B1.2B
Investments(38M)(22M)(11M)(3.1B)(3.5B)(3.4B)
Gross Profit Margin0.680.690.720.630.640.73

FirstEnergy ESG Sustainability

Some studies have found that companies with high sustainability scores are getting higher valuations than competitors with lower social-engagement activities. While most ESG disclosures are voluntary and do not directly affect the long term financial condition, FirstEnergy's sustainability indicators can be used to identify proper investment strategies using environmental, social, and governance scores that are crucial to FirstEnergy's managers, analysts, and investors.
Environmental
Governance
Social

About FirstEnergy Fundamental Analysis

The Macroaxis Fundamental Analysis modules help investors analyze FirstEnergy's financials across various querterly and yearly statements, indicators and fundamental ratios. We help investors to determine the real value of FirstEnergy using virtually all public information available. We use both quantitative as well as qualitative analysis to arrive at the intrinsic value of FirstEnergy based on its fundamental data. In general, a quantitative approach, as applied to this company, focuses on analyzing financial statements comparatively, whereas a qaualitative method uses data that is important to a company's growth but cannot be measured and presented in a numerical way.
Please read more on our fundamental analysis page.

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Check out FirstEnergy Piotroski F Score and FirstEnergy Altman Z Score analysis.
For information on how to trade FirstEnergy Stock refer to our How to Trade FirstEnergy Stock guide.
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Is Electric Utilities space expected to grow? Or is there an opportunity to expand the business' product line in the future? Factors like these will boost the valuation of FirstEnergy. If investors know FirstEnergy will grow in the future, the company's valuation will be higher. The financial industry is built on trying to define current growth potential and future valuation accurately. All the valuation information about FirstEnergy listed above have to be considered, but the key to understanding future value is determining which factors weigh more heavily than others.
Quarterly Earnings Growth
0.049
Dividend Share
1.67
Earnings Share
1.55
Revenue Per Share
23.076
Quarterly Revenue Growth
0.069
The market value of FirstEnergy is measured differently than its book value, which is the value of FirstEnergy that is recorded on the company's balance sheet. Investors also form their own opinion of FirstEnergy's value that differs from its market value or its book value, called intrinsic value, which is FirstEnergy's true underlying value. Investors use various methods to calculate intrinsic value and buy a stock when its market value falls below its intrinsic value. Because FirstEnergy's market value can be influenced by many factors that don't directly affect FirstEnergy's underlying business (such as a pandemic or basic market pessimism), market value can vary widely from intrinsic value.
Please note, there is a significant difference between FirstEnergy's value and its price as these two are different measures arrived at by different means. Investors typically determine if FirstEnergy is a good investment by looking at such factors as earnings, sales, fundamental and technical indicators, competition as well as analyst projections. However, FirstEnergy's price is the amount at which it trades on the open market and represents the number that a seller and buyer find agreeable to each party.