FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Short Interest Up 10.0% in January

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,290,000 shares, a growth of 10.0% from the January 15th total of 10,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.7 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on FE shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wolfe Research downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from an "outperform" rating to a "peer perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a "sector perform" rating to a "sector outperform" rating and boosted their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn downgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Stock Up 1.7 %

FE stock traded up $0.71 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $41.37. 4,478,524 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,577,170. The company has a market cap of $23.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.69, a P/E/G ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 0.52. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $39.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.77. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. FirstEnergy has a 52 week low of $36.01 and a 52 week high of $44.97.

FirstEnergy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Boston Partners grew its stake in FirstEnergy by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. Boston Partners now owns 16,503,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $656,309,000 after acquiring an additional 6,991,866 shares in the last quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 60.2% in the fourth quarter. Soroban Capital Partners LP now owns 8,340,760 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $331,795,000 after buying an additional 3,133,083 shares in the last quarter. Zimmer Partners LP raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 33.4% in the fourth quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 4,918,857 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $195,672,000 after buying an additional 1,232,040 shares in the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 103.8% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 1,843,964 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $73,334,000 after buying an additional 939,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in FirstEnergy by 118.2% during the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,640,808 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $65,271,000 after purchasing an additional 888,800 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is 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.