FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Short Interest Up 7.8% in November

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) saw a large growth in short interest in November. As of November 30th, there was short interest totalling 11,230,000 shares, a growth of 7.8% from the November 15th total of 10,420,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,850,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.9 days.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:FE traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $39.84. The stock had a trading volume of 2,686,627 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,898,671. FirstEnergy has a twelve month low of $35.41 and a twelve month high of $44.97. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $42.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $41.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a PEG ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.51.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The utilities provider reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.90 by ($0.05). The business had revenue of $3.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. FirstEnergy’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Investors of record on Thursday, November 7th were paid a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 109.68%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently commented on FE shares. Bank of America increased their price target on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Seaport Res Ptn lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective 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. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $40.00 to $46.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.27.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,417.3% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 743,303 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,965,000 after acquiring an additional 694,313 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 5.3% in the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 9,098,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $403,517,000 after purchasing an additional 457,231 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in FirstEnergy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $14,933,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,178.5% in the second quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 286,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,977,000 after purchasing an additional 264,389 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 4,445.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 219,434 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,732,000 after purchasing an additional 214,606 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.