Zacks Research Analysts Boost Earnings Estimates for FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE)

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) – Analysts at Zacks Research upped their Q4 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of FirstEnergy in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, April 23rd. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the utilities provider will post earnings per share of $0.63 for the quarter, up from their previous forecast of $0.60. The consensus estimate for FirstEnergy’s current full-year earnings is $2.66 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for FirstEnergy’s Q2 2025 earnings at $0.68 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $0.89 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.81 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $3.08 EPS.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Bank of America upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $39.80.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.2 %

FE opened at $38.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a current ratio of 0.48 and a quick ratio of 0.38. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $32.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.17. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $37.76 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $37.07. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. The firm had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.10 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.50 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .0% on a year-over-year basis.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Citigroup Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 27.3% in the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 1,018,422 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,810,000 after purchasing an additional 218,439 shares in the last quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 7.6% during the third quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,231 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $418,000 after acquiring an additional 866 shares in the last quarter. Comerica Bank lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 11,260.9% in the 3rd quarter. Comerica Bank now owns 137,581 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,703,000 after acquiring an additional 136,370 shares in the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 26,086 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $899,000 after purchasing an additional 607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 447.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP now owns 372,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,715,000 after purchasing an additional 304,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be paid a $0.425 dividend. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.46%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 90.61%.

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.