FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Reaches New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) shares reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $46.00 to $49.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. FirstEnergy traded as high as $46.39 and last traded at $46.36, with a volume of 3629343 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $45.93.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group set a $44.00 price objective on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Saturday, September 27th. Barclays raised shares of FirstEnergy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $43.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Monday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 25th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. Oliver Lagore Vanvalin Investment Group bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 186.4% during the 2nd quarter. Capital Advisors Ltd. LLC now owns 676 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $26.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $43.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.92.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.31%. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.56 EPS. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.76%.

About FirstEnergy

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.