FirstEnergy Corporation $FE Shares Acquired by Sciencast Management LP

Key Points

• Sciencast Management LP has increased its holdings in FirstEnergy Corporation by 14.1%, acquiring an additional 10,758 shares in the first quarter, bringing its total to 87,177 shares worth approximately $3.52 million.
• FirstEnergy recently reported earnings of $0.52 per share, beating analyst expectations, but fell short on revenue predictions with $3.40 billion compared to the expected $3.45 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445 per share, yielding 4.1%, with a dividend payout ratio currently at 78.76%.

Sciencast Management LP lifted its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE - Free Report) by 14.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 87,177 shares of the utilities provider's stock after buying an additional 10,758 shares during the quarter. Sciencast Management LP's holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $3,524,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of FE. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter worth about $256,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 28.8% in the fourth quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 99,729 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $3,967,000 after purchasing an additional 22,284 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,263 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $488,000 after purchasing an additional 2,438 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 28.0% in the fourth quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 314,434 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $12,508,000 after purchasing an additional 68,738 shares during the period. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,838 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $835,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.5%

FE traded up $0.21 during trading on Friday, hitting $43.80. 2,766,595 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,282,178. 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 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $44.78. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.54 and a 200 day moving average price of $41.30. The firm has a market cap of $25.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.68 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.56 earnings per share. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on FE shares. Morgan Stanley restated an "overweight" rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, August 21st. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. UBS Group set a $44.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $46.00 price objective (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $43.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Seven 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, FirstEnergy has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $46.31.

About FirstEnergy

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.