FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Short Interest Update

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 10,830,000 shares, a decrease of 10.6% from the September 15th total of 12,110,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE FE traded down $0.41 on Thursday, hitting $43.49. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,598,672 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,939,507. FirstEnergy has a 12-month low of $34.73 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $25.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.51 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $43.47 and a 200-day moving average of $40.67.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.61% and a return on equity of 12.12%. The company had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.47 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 97.70%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital World Investors raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 14.3% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 77,928,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,009,615,000 after purchasing an additional 9,773,785 shares during the period. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 63.4% during the first quarter. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd now owns 1,328,210 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $51,295,000 after purchasing an additional 515,458 shares during the period. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth approximately $14,933,000. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth approximately $12,631,000. Finally, Norden Group LLC raised its stake in FirstEnergy by 2,741.7% during the first quarter. Norden Group LLC now owns 295,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,429,000 after purchasing an additional 285,522 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Argus upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.82.

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.