FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Position Lifted by SG Americas Securities LLC

Key Points

• SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 2,986% in Q4 to 871,476 shares (about 0.15% of the company), contributing to overall institutional ownership of 89.41%.
• FirstEnergy raised its quarterly dividend to $0.465 (annualized $1.86) for a 3.8% yield, while the dividend payout ratio remains high at 101.14%.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently, offloading 39,118 shares worth roughly $1.99 million over the past three months, leaving insiders with just 0.17% ownership.

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 2,986.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 871,476 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 843,236 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC owned about 0.15% of FirstEnergy worth $39,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 198.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,888,967 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $277,350,000 after purchasing an additional 4,578,375 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its holdings in FirstEnergy by 13.5% in the third quarter. Boston Partners now owns 18,344,403 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $841,161,000 after buying an additional 2,185,400 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 128.5% during the third quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 3,275,409 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $150,079,000 after buying an additional 1,841,946 shares in the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 104.3% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,528,747 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $161,687,000 after buying an additional 1,801,729 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5,885.7% during the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 1,251,001 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $57,321,000 after buying an additional 1,230,101 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on FE. Scotiabank reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $49.71.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other news, Director James F. Oneil sold 7,945 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.60, for a total transaction of $402,017.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 1,869 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $94,571.40. The trade was a 80.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 26,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 119,552 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,089,978.88. This trade represents a 18.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,118 shares of company stock worth $1,989,532. 0.17% of the stock is owned by insiders.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $49.49 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83. The business has a 50 day moving average of $49.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $46.69. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $52.01. The company has a market cap of $28.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 0.61.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.20 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.50% and a net margin of 6.76%.During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.67 EPS. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.620-2.820 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, May 7th will be given a $0.465 dividend. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. This represents a $1.86 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is 101.14%.

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.

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