FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Wolfe Research

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) was downgraded by research analysts at Wolfe Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Barclays upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $53.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. New Street Research set a $52.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Mizuho set a $51.00 target price on FirstEnergy in a report on Thursday, February 19th. Weiss Ratings upgraded FirstEnergy from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $55.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $51.92.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of FE opened at $46.73 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.87, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.52. FirstEnergy has a one year low of $39.28 and a one year high of $52.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $27.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 2.25 and a beta of 0.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $50.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $47.69.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, April 28th. The utilities provider reported $0.72 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.72. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.66% and a net margin of 6.86%.The firm had revenue of $4.01 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.80 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.6% on a year-over-year basis. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.620-2.820 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other FirstEnergy news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 26,800 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 119,552 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,089,978.88. This trade represents a 18.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CAO Jason Lisowski sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $50.84, for a total value of $152,520.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 7,176 shares in the company, valued at $364,827.84. This represents a 29.48% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,118 shares of company stock valued at $1,989,532. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of FE. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 29.0% in the 3rd quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 324,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $14,885,000 after acquiring an additional 72,964 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 15.3% in the 3rd quarter. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. now owns 208,941 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,574,000 after acquiring an additional 27,655 shares during the last quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wealthfront Advisers LLC now owns 202,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,263,000 after acquiring an additional 30,955 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 42.6% in the 3rd quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,992,975 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $137,138,000 after acquiring an additional 894,549 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $256,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

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.