Short Interest in Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) Increases By 5.5%

Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 17,990,000 shares, an increase of 5.5% from the November 30th total of 17,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 4,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Institutional Trading of Dominion Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC raised its position in Dominion Energy by 63.5% in the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 8,436,875 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $487,567,000 after purchasing an additional 3,278,175 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Dominion Energy by 10,324.8% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,250,811 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $130,074,000 after acquiring an additional 2,229,220 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Dominion Energy by 7,438.3% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,483,538 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $85,734,000 after acquiring an additional 1,463,858 shares during the last quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Dominion Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $67,854,000. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Dominion Energy by 3.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,365,555 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 73.04% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Dominion Energy in a research note on Monday, December 2nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $61.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Dominion Energy from $58.00 to $61.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Dominion Energy in a report on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price objective for the company. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Dominion Energy from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $61.00 price objective on shares of Dominion Energy in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $56.58.

Dominion Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:D opened at $53.86 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $56.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $55.35. Dominion Energy has a 1 year low of $43.53 and a 1 year high of $61.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $45.24 billion, a PE ratio of 18.90, a P/E/G ratio of 1.44 and a beta of 0.59.

Dominion Energy (NYSE:D) last issued its earnings results on Friday, November 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.98 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.93 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $3.94 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.18 billion. Dominion Energy had a net margin of 16.95% and a return on equity of 8.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 3.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.77 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Dominion Energy will post 2.75 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Dominion Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 20th. Investors of record on Friday, November 29th were issued a $0.6675 dividend. This represents a $2.67 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, November 29th. Dominion Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 93.68%.

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.