Dominion Energy (NYSE:D) Shares Up 0.3% Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) were up 0.3% during trading on Tuesday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $40.00 to $43.00. Bank of America currently has an underperform rating on the stock. Dominion Energy traded as high as $51.11 and last traded at $50.80. Approximately 670,016 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average daily volume of 5,333,042 shares. The stock had previously closed at $50.63.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on D. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Dominion Energy from $50.00 to $49.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Dominion Energy from $49.00 to $48.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Dominion Energy from $57.00 to $52.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 4th. BMO Capital Markets cut shares of Dominion Energy from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and set a $49.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, March 11th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Dominion Energy from $47.00 to $45.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $49.10.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert M. Blue bought 21,735 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 4th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $45.91 per share, with a total value of $997,853.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 176,240 shares in the company, valued at $8,091,178.40. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Robert M. Blue acquired 21,735 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 4th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $45.91 per share, with a total value of $997,853.85. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 176,240 shares in the company, valued at $8,091,178.40. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Joseph M. Rigby acquired 2,130 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $46.94 per share, for a total transaction of $99,982.20. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 8,417 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $395,093.98. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 0.12% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Dominion Energy

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in D. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in shares of Dominion Energy by 631.2% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,339,785 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $729,898,000 after buying an additional 14,105,237 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Dominion Energy by 136.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 17,970,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $844,630,000 after acquiring an additional 10,370,768 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Dominion Energy in the fourth quarter worth $329,792,000. ClearBridge Investments Ltd acquired a new stake in Dominion Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $214,220,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Dominion Energy by 9.0% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 23,394,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,045,051,000 after acquiring an additional 1,928,823 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.04% of the company’s stock.

Dominion Energy Stock Up 0.4 %

The company has a current ratio of 1.04, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $42.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.96 and a beta of 0.61. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $47.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $46.18.

Dominion Energy (NYSE:D) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The utilities provider reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.11). Dominion Energy had a net margin of 12.40% and a return on equity of 8.83%. The company had revenue of $3.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.21 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.06 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Dominion Energy, Inc. will post 2.86 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Dominion Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 20th. Investors of record on Friday, March 1st were given a $0.6675 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 29th. This represents a $2.67 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.25%. Dominion Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 114.59%.

About Dominion Energy

Dominion Energy, Inc produces and distributes energy in the United States. It operates through three operating segments: Dominion Energy Virginia, Dominion Energy South Carolina, and Contracted Energy. The Dominion Energy Virginia segment generates, transmits, and distributes regulated electricity to approximately 2.8 million residential, commercial, industrial, and governmental customers in Virginia and North Carolina.