FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 14,210,000 shares, an increase of 25.9% from the January 31st total of 11,290,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,330,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FE. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy during the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Lee Danner & Bass Inc. acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC lifted its position in FirstEnergy by 4,571.4% in the 3rd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 654 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WASHINGTON TRUST Co raised its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 293.0% during the 4th quarter. WASHINGTON TRUST Co now owns 786 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 586 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE stock traded up $0.24 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $38.51. 1,718,584 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,982,421. The company has a market cap of $22.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy has a 1 year low of $36.81 and a 1 year high of $44.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $40.00 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58, a current ratio of 0.56 and a quick ratio of 0.46.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 7th were issued a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.41%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.00%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $45.33.

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.