FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Reaches New 12-Month High – Still a Buy?

Shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) hit a new 52-week high during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $52.02 and last traded at $51.1910, with a volume of 4589568 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $51.76.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $49.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 17th. Wolfe Research raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Weiss Ratings downgraded FirstEnergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research report on Thursday, February 19th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.71.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.83, a current ratio of 0.57 and a quick ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $29.58 billion, a PE ratio of 29.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.61. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $48.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.47.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.76% and a return on equity of 10.50%. The firm had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.67 earnings per share. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.620-2.820 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, May 7th will be paid a $0.465 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 7th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 101.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling at FirstEnergy

In other news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 26,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.94, for a total value of $1,365,192.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 119,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,089,978.88. This trade represents a 18.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 1,373 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction on Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total value of $69,803.32. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 39,118 shares of company stock valued at $1,989,532 in the last 90 days. 0.17% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 43.3% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 30,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,386,000 after purchasing an additional 9,353 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 12,358 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $553,000 after buying an additional 1,211 shares during the period. Meadowbrook Advisors Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth about $261,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 13.4% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 49,947 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,236,000 after buying an additional 5,892 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,021,430 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $45,764,000 after acquiring an additional 128,044 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

About FirstEnergy

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE: FE) is a U.S.-based electric utility holding company headquartered in Akron, Ohio. The company’s primary business is the delivery of electricity through its regulated transmission and distribution utilities, serving residential, commercial and industrial customers across parts of the Midwest and Mid‑Atlantic. FirstEnergy’s service territory includes states such as Ohio, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland and West Virginia, and it operates primarily within the PJM regional transmission organization.

FirstEnergy’s core activities center on owning and operating electric distribution networks and transmission systems, maintaining and upgrading grid infrastructure, managing storm response and restoration, and offering customer programs that include energy efficiency and reliability services.