FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Short Interest Down 10.6% in September

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) was the recipient of a significant 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 trading volume, of 2,840,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.8 days.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of FE. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 1,150.9% during the first quarter. FinTrust Capital Advisors LLC now owns 663 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 610 shares during the last quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. grew its position in FirstEnergy by 1,138.9% during the 2nd quarter. ST Germain D J Co. Inc. now owns 669 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Scarborough Advisors LLC acquired a new position in FirstEnergy in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the second quarter valued at about $32,000. Finally, Western Pacific Wealth Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of FirstEnergy during the first quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

Shares of FE traded down $0.41 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $43.49. 2,598,672 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,939,507. The company has a quick ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $34.73 and a 52 week high of $44.97. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $43.47 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.67. The firm has a market cap of $25.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 0.50.

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

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th will be given a dividend of $0.425 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 7th. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.91%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 97.70%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $51.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Argus raised shares of FirstEnergy from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $50.00 target price for the company in a report on Friday, September 20th. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $46.00 to $47.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $43.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Monday. They issued a “hold” rating and a $46.00 target price on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.82.

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.