FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Short Interest Update

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during 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 trading volume, of 3,060,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.7 days.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

FE opened at $40.04 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $23.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.83, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.52. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $36.01 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 0.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $39.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $41.81.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Saturday, March 1st. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 7th. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 109.68%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FE has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on 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 lowered FirstEnergy from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank upgraded shares of FirstEnergy from a “sector perform” rating to a “sector outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $45.00 to $50.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered shares of FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $46.27.

Institutional Trading of FirstEnergy

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Balanced Wealth Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,741 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in FirstEnergy by 69.3% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 255 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in FirstEnergy by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 19,838 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $835,000 after acquiring an additional 272 shares in the last quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 1.7% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 16,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $750,000 after acquiring an additional 288 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quarry LP grew its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% during the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by 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.