FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Short Interest Update

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,630,000 shares, a drop of 8.8% from the March 15th total of 12,750,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,500,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.3 days.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FirstEnergy stock traded up $0.62 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $37.45. 2,548,515 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,412,209. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.55 billion, a PE ratio of 20.35 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $32.18 and a fifty-two week high of $41.17. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $37.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $36.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.10, a quick ratio of 0.38 and a current ratio of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.10 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 13.52% and a net margin of 8.56%. The business’s revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.50 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.67 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 7th will be given a $0.425 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, May 6th. This is a boost from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.41. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.54%. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 90.61%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. StockNews.com cut FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective for the company. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $40.38.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,648,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $75,615,000 after purchasing an additional 86,132 shares in the last quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 10.1% during the first quarter. Vontobel Holding Ltd. now owns 10,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $461,000 after purchasing an additional 923 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 26.5% during the first quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 9,044 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892 shares in the last quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH increased its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 51.0% during the first quarter. Allianz Asset Management GmbH now owns 618,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,355,000 after purchasing an additional 208,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential PLC purchased a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter worth approximately $577,000. 89.41% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.