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

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE - Get Free Report) was the recipient of 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 trading volume, of 2,850,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.9 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Livelsberger Financial Advisory purchased a new position in FirstEnergy in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. True Wealth Design LLC increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 640 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL purchased a new stake in FirstEnergy during the second quarter valued at about $32,000. West Oak Capital LLC bought a new position in FirstEnergy during the second quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.41% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on FE shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $45.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley reduced 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. Seaport Res Ptn cut shares of FirstEnergy from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp decreased their target price on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $46.27.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of FE traded down $0.05 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $39.85. 2,712,269 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,898,776. FirstEnergy has a fifty-two week low of $35.41 and a fifty-two week high of $44.97. The business has a 50-day moving average of $42.02 and a 200-day moving average of $41.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $22.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.18 and a beta of 0.51. 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 - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.96 billion. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business's revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.88 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.68 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Sunday, December 1st. Shareholders of record on Thursday, November 7th were issued a dividend of $0.425 per share. This represents a $1.70 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, November 7th. FirstEnergy's dividend payout ratio is currently 109.68%.

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.