Park Avenue Securities LLC Makes New Investment in FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

Key Points

• Park Avenue Securities LLC has acquired a new position in FirstEnergy Corporation, purchasing 40,871 shares valued at approximately $1.645 million.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for FirstEnergy, with Barclays increasing its target from $43.00 to $49.00 and Mizuho boosting it from $43.00 to $45.00.
• FirstEnergy announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, with a yield of 4.0% and a payout ratio of 78.76%.

Park Avenue Securities LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 40,871 shares of the utilities provider's stock, valued at approximately $1,645,000.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 14.2% in the first quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 71,333 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $2,883,000 after acquiring an additional 8,879 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.8% in the first quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,983 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $403,000 after acquiring an additional 366 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 9.0% in the first quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 17,759 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $718,000 after acquiring an additional 1,464 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth about $256,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 29.7% in the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 7,684 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $311,000 after acquiring an additional 1,760 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised shares of FirstEnergy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $43.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group set a $44.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $46.00 target price (down previously from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NYSE FE opened at $44.25 on Friday. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $44.58. The stock has a market cap of $25.55 billion, a PE ratio of 19.58, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.50. 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 company has a 50-day moving average of $43.13 and a 200 day moving average of $41.58.

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

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Investors of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 78.76%.

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.

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