Scotiabank Issues Positive Outlook for FirstEnergy Earnings

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) – Scotiabank upped their FY2026 EPS estimates for FirstEnergy in a research report issued on Thursday, February 19th. Scotiabank analyst A. Weisel now anticipates that the utilities provider will post earnings of $2.74 per share for the year, up from their prior estimate of $2.70. Scotiabank has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for FirstEnergy’s current full-year earnings is $2.66 per share. Scotiabank also issued estimates for FirstEnergy’s FY2027 earnings at $2.96 EPS.

FE has been the subject of several other research reports. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $51.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Mizuho set a $51.00 target price on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on FirstEnergy from $54.00 to $53.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wolfe Research upgraded FirstEnergy from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 27th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.31.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE FE opened at $49.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.80, a quick ratio of 0.64 and a current ratio of 0.75. The stock has a market cap of $28.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.64. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $46.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $45.52. FirstEnergy has a 52-week low of $37.58 and a 52-week high of $50.44.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 17th. The utilities provider reported $0.53 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.52 by $0.01. The business had revenue of $3.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.20 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 10.47% and a net margin of 6.76%.During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.67 EPS. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.620-2.820 EPS.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Thursday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.465 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 7th. This represents a $1.86 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.45. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 77.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 198.1% in the second quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,888,967 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $277,350,000 after acquiring an additional 4,578,375 shares during the last quarter. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy during the 4th quarter worth about $123,018,000. BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $110,332,000. Boston Partners lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Boston Partners now owns 18,344,403 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $841,161,000 after purchasing an additional 2,185,400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 56.0% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,506,251 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $246,515,000 after purchasing an additional 1,977,504 shares during the period. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting FirstEnergy this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank raised FY‑2026 and FY‑2027 EPS forecasts (FY26 to $2.74, FY27 to $2.96) and bumped its price target to $56 while keeping an Outperform rating — a clear analyst endorsement that supports upside. FirstEnergy price target raised by Scotiabank
• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results slightly beat consensus (EPS $0.53 vs $0.52) and revenue topped estimates; company gave FY2026 EPS guidance of $2.62–2.82 — earnings clarity and modest beats are pro-stock catalysts. FirstEnergy Corp. Q4 2025 Earnings Call Summary
• Positive Sentiment: Management’s large grid investment plan ( ~$36B capex cited in coverage) and ongoing reliability projects (new substations) bolster future regulated earnings and rate-case narratives — a structural growth story for utilities investors. Zacks: FirstEnergy Q4 Earnings Top Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Local reliability improvements (new Berks County and Berkeley County substations) reduce outage risk and support customer satisfaction/regulatory goodwill. Berks County PR Newswire Berkeley County PR Newswire
• Neutral Sentiment: Extensive earnings-call transcripts and coverage are available for detail on drivers (transcripts/analyst notes summarize margin drivers, weather, and rate-case timing); useful for modeling but largely informational. Seeking Alpha transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory/political risk flagged — coverage notes that elevated PJM capacity-auction outcomes could push higher customer bills and threaten timely recovery of grid investments, which would weigh on near‑term regulatory outcomes and investor sentiment. TipRanks: Rising political risk from PJM capacity auctions

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.