IFM Investors Pty Ltd Trims Position in FirstEnergy Corporation $FE

IFM Investors Pty Ltd lessened its position in shares of FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) by 18.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 153,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 35,756 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in FirstEnergy were worth $6,220,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 63.5% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 48,719 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,969,000 after acquiring an additional 18,927 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $856,000 after acquiring an additional 1,340 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 2,664,698 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $107,707,000 after acquiring an additional 21,177 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 40.7% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 43,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,752,000 after acquiring an additional 12,531 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Yaupon Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 38.2% during the 1st quarter. Yaupon Capital Management LP now owns 468,512 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $18,937,000 after acquiring an additional 129,395 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FE. Barclays upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $43.00 to $49.00 in a research note on Monday, August 25th. UBS Group set a $44.00 price target on shares of FirstEnergy and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $46.00 price target (down previously from $47.00) on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.31.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of FE stock opened at $43.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $24.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.13, a PEG ratio of 2.66 and a beta of 0.50. FirstEnergy Corporation has a 52 week low of $37.58 and a 52 week high of $44.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 0.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $42.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $41.31.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.45 billion. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.31%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.56 EPS. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. Analysts predict that FirstEnergy Corporation will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 7th were paid a $0.445 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.1%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is presently 78.76%.

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.