FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Sets New 12-Month High – Here’s What Happened

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $52.29 and last traded at $50.4390, with a volume of 1178598 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.03.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. UBS Group reduced 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. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.71.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $49.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $46.79. The stock has a market cap of $28.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.57, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83.

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

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.465 per share. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 7th. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.7%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 101.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 26,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $6,089,978.88. This represents a 18.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director James F. Oneil sold 7,945 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.60, for a total transaction of $402,017.00. Following the sale, the director owned 1,869 shares in the company, valued at $94,571.40. The trade was 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 quarter, insiders have sold 39,118 shares of company stock worth $1,989,532. Company insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital World Investors increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 0.4% in the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 78,328,151 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,588,992,000 after acquiring an additional 305,531 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,109,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,049,255,000 after purchasing an additional 761,157 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 13.5% during the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 18,344,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $841,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,400 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 13,463,298 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $600,351,000 after purchasing an additional 126,834 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 11,722,471 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $524,815,000 after purchasing an additional 34,014 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.