Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Call Options on Dominion Energy (NYSE:D)

Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 33,996 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 1,247% compared to the average daily volume of 2,524 call options.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

D has been the subject of a number of research reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Dominion Energy in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Dominion Energy from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price target on shares of Dominion Energy in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Dominion Energy from $48.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on shares of Dominion Energy from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $55.91.

Dominion Energy Price Performance

Shares of D opened at $59.71 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $50.16 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.58 and a current ratio of 0.74. Dominion Energy has a fifty-two week low of $43.53 and a fifty-two week high of $61.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $58.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $54.96.

Dominion Energy (NYSE:D) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.98 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. Dominion Energy had a net margin of 16.95% and a return on equity of 8.35%. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.77 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Dominion Energy will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dominion Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 20th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 29th will be issued a dividend of $0.6675 per share. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.47%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 29th. Dominion Energy’s payout ratio is 93.68%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Dominion Energy

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Dominion Energy by 3.2% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 44,297,832 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,559,972,000 after buying an additional 1,365,555 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA boosted its holdings in Dominion Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 29,635,621 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,452,145,000 after purchasing an additional 477,181 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Dominion Energy by 2.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,875,221 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,032,941,000 after purchasing an additional 367,193 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in Dominion Energy by 6.7% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,979,739 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $734,007,000 after purchasing an additional 940,402 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Dominion Energy by 4.8% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,718,747 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $496,358,000 after purchasing an additional 398,012 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.04% of the company’s stock.

Dominion Energy Company Profile

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.