FirstEnergy Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:FE)

FirstEnergy Corporation (NYSE:FE) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 8,031 put options on the company. This is an increase of 303% compared to the typical volume of 1,994 put options.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On FirstEnergy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Genesis Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of FirstEnergy by 10.5% during the 3rd quarter. Genesis Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,536 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $254,000 after buying an additional 525 shares during the period. Wedmont Private Capital grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 7,707 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 5.1% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 131,983 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,047,000 after acquiring an additional 6,425 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in shares of FirstEnergy by 20.5% in the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 14,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 2,441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Caldwell Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of FirstEnergy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. 89.41% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

FirstEnergy Price Performance

NYSE:FE opened at $46.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $26.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 0.52. The company has a current ratio of 0.61, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.68. The company’s 50-day moving average is $43.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $41.98. FirstEnergy has a 12-month low of $37.58 and a 12-month high of $47.35.

FirstEnergy (NYSE:FE) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The utilities provider reported $0.52 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.02. FirstEnergy had a net margin of 9.31% and a return on equity of 11.31%. The company had revenue of $3.40 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.56 EPS. FirstEnergy has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.400-2.600 EPS. Research analysts expect that FirstEnergy will post 2.66 EPS for the current year.

FirstEnergy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 7th will be paid a $0.445 dividend. This represents a $1.78 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 7th. FirstEnergy’s payout ratio is currently 78.76%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on FE. Barclays raised FirstEnergy from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and upped their price target for the company from $43.00 to $49.00 in a report on Monday, August 25th. Citigroup started coverage on FirstEnergy in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $53.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a report on Wednesday. UBS Group set a $44.00 price objective on FirstEnergy and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of FirstEnergy in a research note on Wednesday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.77.

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.