Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of FirstEnergy Put Options (NYSE:FE)

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) saw unusually large options trading on Monday. Stock traders acquired 6,197 put options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 444% compared to the average daily volume of 1,140 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on FE. Guggenheim decreased their price target on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 28th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $41.00 to $43.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. KeyCorp cut their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have assigned a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.00.

FirstEnergy Stock Performance

FE stock opened at $39.03 on Tuesday. FirstEnergy has a 1-year low of $36.81 and a 1-year 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 firm has a market cap of $22.51 billion, a PE ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $39.94 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $41.26.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 26th. The utilities provider reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.03). FirstEnergy had a return on equity of 11.38% and a net margin of 6.64%. The business had revenue of $3.20 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.53 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 earnings per share for the current year.

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be issued a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.56%. This is a positive change from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, May 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is 104.71%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On FirstEnergy

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

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.