Zacks Research Has Weak Outlook for FirstEnergy Q2 Earnings

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) – Equities research analysts at Zacks Research cut their Q2 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for FirstEnergy in a report released on Wednesday, May 14th. Zacks Research analyst R. Department now forecasts that the utilities provider will earn $0.58 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $0.61. The consensus estimate for FirstEnergy’s current full-year earnings is $2.66 per share. Zacks Research also issued estimates for FirstEnergy’s Q1 2026 earnings at $0.63 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $0.62 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $0.94 EPS, FY2026 earnings at $2.80 EPS and Q1 2027 earnings at $0.68 EPS.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The utilities provider reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $3.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.68 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. FirstEnergy’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.55 EPS.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on FE. Bank of America upgraded FirstEnergy from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $42.00 to $45.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Scotiabank reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Friday, April 25th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. UBS Group raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of FE stock opened at $42.82 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.71 billion, a PE ratio of 27.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.42. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $37.58 and a 1-year high of $44.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $40.97 and a 200 day moving average of $40.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Covestor Ltd boosted its stake in FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the first quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, TruNorth Capital Management LLC grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 226.9% in the first quarter. TruNorth Capital Management LLC now owns 706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 490 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Jon Taylor K. sold 12,000 shares of FirstEnergy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.03, for a total transaction of $516,360.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,919 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,299,514.57. The trade was a 10.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.17% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.16%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 94.68%.

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.