Franklin Resources Inc. Purchases 50,850 Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Key Points

• Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 50,850 shares (a 1.5% increase), raising its holding to 3,417,263 shares—about 0.59% of the company—valued at roughly $156.6 million.
• FirstEnergy raised its quarterly dividend to $0.465 per share (annualized $1.86), implying a 3.7% yield, while the dividend payout ratio is high at about 101.1%.
• Company insiders have been selling recently: the CFO sold 26,800 shares (the CAO sold 3,000), with insiders offloading 31,173 shares (~$1.59M) over the past 90 days and now owning 0.17% of the stock.

Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,417,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock after acquiring an additional 50,850 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.59% of FirstEnergy worth $156,579,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 418.0% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 270,183 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $10,878,000 after buying an additional 218,020 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 52.7% during the 2nd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 42,632 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,716,000 after buying an additional 14,718 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,379.5% during the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 114,945 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $4,628,000 after buying an additional 107,176 shares during the last quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 218.6% in the 2nd quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 62,236 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $2,506,000 after acquiring an additional 42,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp grew its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.8% in the 2nd quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp now owns 425,860 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $17,145,000 after acquiring an additional 107,579 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho set a $51.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings lowered FirstEnergy from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Wolfe Research upgraded FirstEnergy from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $50.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 27th. Scotiabank reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $49.71.

Insider Activity at FirstEnergy

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 26,800 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 119,552 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,089,978.88. This trade represents a 18.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 3,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total transaction of $152,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 7,176 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $364,827.84. The trade was a 29.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 31,173 shares of company stock worth $1,587,515 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.17% of the company's stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE opened at $50.85 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $48.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $46.27. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $51.44. The company has a market capitalization of $29.39 billion, a PE ratio of 28.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.61.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.50% and a net margin of 6.76%.During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.67 earnings per share. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.620-2.820 EPS. Research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.465 per share. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 7th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy's previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 101.14%.

FirstEnergy 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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