Short Interest in FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Drops By 10.6%

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) saw a large decrease in short interest in 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 volume of 2,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp raised their target price on FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Bank of America upped their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.82.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FE. V Square Quantitative Management LLC increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 9,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $422,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the third quarter worth $206,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its position in FirstEnergy by 2.1% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 55,234 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,450,000 after acquiring an additional 1,133 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 112.2% in the third quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 11,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $498,000 after acquiring an additional 5,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC acquired a new stake in FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at $146,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.9 %

FE stock traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $43.49. 2,598,672 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,939,507. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $43.47 and its 200-day moving average is $40.67. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $34.73 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a market cap of $25.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a PEG 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.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.7 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.91%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 97.70%.

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.