FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.02 EPS

Key Points

• FirstEnergy reported a quarterly earnings per share (EPS) of $0.52, missing analysts' expectations of $0.56 by $0.04.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.445, representing an annualized yield of 4.26%, with a high dividend payout ratio of 94.68%.
• FirstEnergy updated its fiscal year 2025 EPS guidance to a range of $2.400 to $2.600, further informing investors of its future expectations.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02, Zacks reports. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.45 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.40%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. FirstEnergy updated its FY 2025 guidance to 2.400-2.600 EPS.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NYSE:FE traded up $0.42 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $43.13. The company had a trading volume of 2,138,323 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,007,621. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 0.42 and a quick ratio of 0.34. FirstEnergy has a one year low of $37.58 and a one year high of $44.97. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $40.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $40.63. The company has a market capitalization of $24.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.39.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 7th will be given a dividend of $0.445 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 94.68%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 99,919 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,299,514.57. This represents a 10.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.97, for a total value of $503,640.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,680.51. This represents a 98.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.17% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $256,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 1st quarter worth $289,000. Empowered Funds LLC grew its position in FirstEnergy by 7.0% in the 1st quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 11,213 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $453,000 after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,178 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 1,340 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in FirstEnergy by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 43,334 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,752,000 after purchasing an additional 12,531 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, April 25th. UBS Group set a $44.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $46.00 target price (down from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their target price on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.08.

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.