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

FirstEnergy Corp. (NYSE:FE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Monday. Stock traders purchased 6,197 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 444% compared to the typical volume of 1,140 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Institutional 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 4th quarter. Balanced Wealth Group LLC now owns 26,991 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,074,000 after acquiring an additional 250 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in FirstEnergy by 69.3% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 623 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 255 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP lifted its stake in shares of FirstEnergy by 59.1% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 861 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 5,146 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,000 after purchasing an additional 324 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.41% of the company’s stock.

FirstEnergy Trading Down 2.7 %

Shares of FE stock opened at $37.95 on Wednesday. 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 $21.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.07 and a beta of 0.48. FirstEnergy has a 12-month low of $36.81 and a 12-month high of $44.97. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $39.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $41.22.

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

FirstEnergy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Sunday, June 1st. Investors of record on Wednesday, May 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.445 per share. This is an increase from FirstEnergy’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.43. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, May 7th. This represents a $1.78 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.69%. FirstEnergy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.71%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FE has been the topic of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $48.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $41.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 28th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of FirstEnergy from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of FirstEnergy from $50.00 to $44.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 28th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of FirstEnergy from $48.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, December 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nine have issued a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.00.

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.