Advisors Capital Management LLC Trims Position in FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Advisors Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,350 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 405 shares during the quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $216,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Dakota Wealth Management raised its position in FirstEnergy by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Dakota Wealth Management now owns 7,633 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 249 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the 1st quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 10,807 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $437,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Equitable Trust Co. raised its position in FirstEnergy by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 22,677 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $917,000 after buying an additional 266 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its position in FirstEnergy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $835,000 after buying an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 5.5% during the 1st quarter. Firethorn Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,492 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,000 after buying an additional 287 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $43.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a PE ratio of 19.38, a PEG ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.50. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $42.54 and a 200 day moving average of $41.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.61. FirstEnergy Corporation has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $44.78.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 EPS. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 78.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised shares of FirstEnergy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 target price (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, UBS Group set a $44.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.31.

FirstEnergy 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.