Zacks Research Has Weak Outlook for FirstEnergy Q2 Earnings

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) – Analysts at Zacks Research lowered their Q2 2025 earnings estimates for FirstEnergy in a report released on Tuesday, June 10th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now expects that the utilities provider will earn $0.56 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.58. The consensus estimate for FirstEnergy’s current full-year earnings is $2.66 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for FirstEnergy’s Q4 2025 earnings at $0.46 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $2.54 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $0.65 EPS, Q4 2026 earnings at $0.58 EPS and FY2027 earnings at $3.00 EPS.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on FE. Mizuho set a $43.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Bank of America raised shares of FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. UBS Group increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, April 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE opened at $40.20 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $23.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.40. FirstEnergy has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.55 earnings per share.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FE. Boston Partners grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 73.5% in the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,309,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,866 shares during the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 8,340,760 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $331,795,000 after purchasing an additional 3,133,083 shares during the period. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 133,614.8% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 2,310,592 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $93,394,000 after purchasing an additional 2,308,864 shares during the period. Wealthquest Corp bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the first quarter worth $53,169,000. Finally, Zimmer Partners LP lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 4,918,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $195,672,000 after purchasing an additional 1,232,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total value of $516,360.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. This trade represents a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th were issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, May 7th. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.68%.

FirstEnergy Company 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.