FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Stock Holdings Boosted by Aberdeen Group plc

Key Points

• Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation by 15.5% during Q1, owning approximately 1,017,417 shares worth about $40.93 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Soroban Capital Partners LP and Federated Hermes Inc., significantly raised their stakes in FirstEnergy, indicating strong bullish interest among hedge funds.
• The company's stock recently reported an earnings per share of $0.52 for the last quarter, surpassing expectations, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share with a yield of 4.1%.

Aberdeen Group plc raised its holdings in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 15.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,017,417 shares of the utilities provider's stock after purchasing an additional 136,712 shares during the quarter. Aberdeen Group plc owned 0.18% of FirstEnergy worth $40,926,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 71,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,883,000 after purchasing an additional 8,879 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,983 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $403,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Mariner LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 16.1% in the 4th quarter. Mariner LLC now owns 95,039 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,781,000 after buying an additional 13,196 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 17,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $718,000 after buying an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE FE traded down $0.0950 on Thursday, hitting $43.4850. 2,289,695 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,891,479. The company has a market capitalization of $25.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $41.34 and a 200 day moving average of $40.99. FirstEnergy Corporation has a twelve month low of $37.58 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.31% and a net margin of 9.31%.The company had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.56 earnings per share. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is 78.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Bank of America raised FirstEnergy from an "underperform" rating to a "neutral" rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $42.00 to $45.00 in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.08.

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.