FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 12,110,000 shares, a growth of 7.7% from the August 31st total of 11,240,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,790,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

FirstEnergy Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:FE opened at $44.05 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.51, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $42.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $40.22. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $32.18 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a market capitalization of $25.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.32, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.56 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.56. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.12% and a net margin of 6.61%. The business had revenue of $3.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.47 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.47 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate 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 issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 97.70%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $44.45.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 14.3% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 77,928,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,009,615,000 after buying an additional 9,773,785 shares during the period. Boston Partners lifted its holdings in FirstEnergy by 2.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 9,517,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $367,423,000 after acquiring an additional 218,165 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 8,930,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $344,908,000 after purchasing an additional 82,482 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 3,557,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $136,152,000 after purchasing an additional 69,512 shares during the period. Finally, 1832 Asset Management L.P. increased its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 20.6% during the 4th quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,454,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,637,000 after purchasing an additional 590,815 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.