FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) Short Interest Down 6.6% in May

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in May. As of May 31st, there was short interest totalling 11,680,000 shares, a decrease of 6.6% from the May 15th total of 12,500,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,610,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on FE shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $40.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded FirstEnergy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, April 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $30.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on FirstEnergy in a research report on Wednesday, April 10th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on FirstEnergy from $42.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, FirstEnergy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $40.27.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Richardson Financial Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.2% in the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 4,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $193,000 after acquiring an additional 290 shares during the last quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Marcum Wealth LLC now owns 7,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Greenleaf Trust increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.1% in the 1st quarter. Greenleaf Trust now owns 9,736 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 295 shares during the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 3.6% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $353,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 3,728 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $137,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE FE opened at $38.17 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $38.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $37.92. FirstEnergy has a one year low of $32.18 and a one year high of $40.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.59, a quick ratio of 0.56 and a current ratio of 0.65. The company has a market cap of $21.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.94, a P/E/G ratio of 2.46 and a beta of 0.50.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 25th. The utilities provider reported $0.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.53 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 12.45% and a net margin of 8.22%. The firm had revenue of $3.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.36 billion. Research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.