Kestra Advisory Services LLC Grows Stock Position in FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Key Points

• Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in FirstEnergy Corporation by 42.5%, acquiring an additional 12,478 shares, bringing its total holdings to 41,815 shares worth approximately $1.69 million.
• FirstEnergy recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.445, resulting in an annual dividend yield of 4.1%, with a dividend payout ratio of 78.76%.
• The company reported $0.52 EPS for the last quarter, surpassing analysts' expectations, and has set FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS.

Kestra Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 42.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 41,815 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 12,478 shares during the quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $1,690,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 66,150,214 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,673,792,000 after buying an additional 306,313 shares during the period. Boston Partners raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 18,962,859 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $767,952,000 after buying an additional 2,459,779 shares during the period. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 60.2% during the 4th quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 8,340,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $331,795,000 after buying an additional 3,133,083 shares during the period. Zimmer Partners LP raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 4,918,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $195,672,000 after buying an additional 1,232,040 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 5.5% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 3,981,944 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $158,403,000 after buying an additional 206,000 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE traded down $0.09 on Friday, reaching $43.39. 457,863 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,796,432. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The stock has a market cap of $25.05 billion, a PE ratio of 19.20, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.50. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $42.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.25. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $44.78.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were given 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 was Thursday, August 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.76%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on FE shares. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $46.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays upgraded FirstEnergy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $49.00 in a report on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group set a $44.00 price target on FirstEnergy and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.31.

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.