FirstEnergy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:FE)

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Monday. Traders purchased 6,197 put options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 444% compared to the average daily volume of 1,140 put options.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FE has been the topic of several recent research reports. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Wolfe Research downgraded FirstEnergy from an “outperform” rating to a “peer perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, FirstEnergy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Down 1.3 %

FE stock opened at $39.03 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $39.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $41.26. FirstEnergy has a 12 month low of $36.81 and a 12 month high of $44.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.56, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $22.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a net margin of 6.64% and a return on equity of 11.38%. The company had revenue of $3.20 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.53 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.56%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 10.3% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 9,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $418,000 after purchasing an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC increased its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 2.3% in the third quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 34,555 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,533,000 after buying an additional 768 shares during the period. B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. Holding AG bought a new position in FirstEnergy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $590,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in FirstEnergy by 6.6% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 86,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,839,000 after buying an additional 5,390 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in FirstEnergy by 17.1% during the 3rd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 99,808 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,426,000 after acquiring an additional 14,606 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

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.