KeyCorp Issues Negative Forecast for FirstEnergy Earnings

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) – Equities researchers at KeyCorp decreased their Q4 2024 earnings estimates for FirstEnergy in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, October 21st. KeyCorp analyst S. Karp now forecasts that the utilities provider will post earnings of $0.70 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.75. KeyCorp currently has a “Overweight” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. The consensus estimate for FirstEnergy’s current full-year earnings is $2.70 per share. KeyCorp also issued estimates for FirstEnergy’s FY2025 earnings at $2.89 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $3.14 EPS, FY2027 earnings at $3.35 EPS and FY2028 earnings at $3.59 EPS.

FE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock opened at $43.41 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $43.67 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.88. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $34.91 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $25.00 billion, a PE ratio of 30.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The firm had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.47 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 120.57%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sachetta LLC lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 36.0% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 929 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 246 shares in the last quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 4.4% in the second quarter. Commonwealth Financial Services LLC now owns 5,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 249 shares in the last quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1.0% in the second quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,015,000 after buying an additional 264 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $193,000 after buying an additional 290 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.7% in the second quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 44,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,701,000 after buying an additional 310 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Company Profile

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.