Barclays Boosts FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Price Target to $53.00

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) had its price objective lifted by equities research analysts at Barclays from $50.00 to $53.00 in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “overweight” rating on the utilities provider’s stock. Barclays‘s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 2.10% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on FE. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded FirstEnergy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $50.15.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $51.91 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $49.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $47.24. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $39.03 and a 52 week high of $52.34. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The company has a market cap of $30.02 billion, a PE ratio of 29.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.60.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 10.50%. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.620-2.820 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at FirstEnergy

In other FirstEnergy news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 26,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.94, for a total transaction of $1,365,192.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 119,552 shares in the company, valued at $6,089,978.88. This trade represents a 18.31% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James F. Oneil sold 7,945 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.60, for a total value of $402,017.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,869 shares in the company, valued at $94,571.40. This represents a 80.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,118 shares of company stock valued at $1,989,532. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Heartland Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 29.0% during the third quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 324,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,885,000 after purchasing an additional 72,964 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 18.1% in the third quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 202,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,263,000 after buying an additional 30,955 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 15.3% during the third quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 208,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,574,000 after buying an additional 27,655 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 42.6% during the third quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,992,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $137,138,000 after buying an additional 894,549 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company’s primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid‑Atlantic. FirstEnergy’s service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy’s core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.