FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Shares Acquired by Royal Bank of Canada

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada increased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corporation by 2.9% during the first quarter, owning approximately 0.71% of the company, valued at $165.67 million.
• FirstEnergy reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the latest quarter, beating estimates by $0.02, with a revenue of $3.40 billion, slightly below expectations.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 4.1%, with a payout ratio of 78.76%.

Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,098,769 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 116,825 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.71% of FirstEnergy worth $165,674,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. grew 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 acquiring an additional 8,879 shares in the last quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.8% during the first quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 9,983 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $403,000 after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 1,464 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC bought a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at about $256,000. Finally, Vontobel Holding Ltd. raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 29.7% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 7,684 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $311,000 after buying an additional 1,760 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $43.44. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,504,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,187,797. 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 Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $37.58 and a fifty-two week high of $44.78. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.08 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 2.67 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 78.76%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FE has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group set a $44.00 target price on FirstEnergy and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, August 21st. Barclays raised shares of FirstEnergy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $43.00 to $49.00 in a research report on Monday, August 25th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down previously from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently 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.