Traders Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Dominion Energy (NYSE:D)

Dominion Energy, Inc. (NYSE:D) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Traders purchased 13,475 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 479% compared to the average volume of 2,329 call options.

Institutional Trading of Dominion Energy

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of D. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Dominion Energy by 0.7% during the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 2,065,766 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $101,615,000 after purchasing an additional 14,456 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its position in shares of Dominion Energy by 0.5% during the first quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 90,781 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,465,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Norden Group LLC bought a new stake in Dominion Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $1,463,000. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its holdings in Dominion Energy by 30.1% in the first quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 25,131 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,236,000 after purchasing an additional 5,812 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Dominion Energy by 7.5% in the first quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 14,435 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 1,003 shares in the last quarter. 73.04% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Dominion Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of Dominion Energy stock traded up $0.43 on Friday, reaching $59.96. 4,673,421 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 4,381,961. Dominion Energy has a one year low of $40.44 and a one year high of $61.97. The company has a market capitalization of $50.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.40, a PEG ratio of 1.56 and a beta of 0.60. The company has a current ratio of 0.93, a quick ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The company has a 50-day moving average of $57.82 and a 200 day moving average of $53.98.

Dominion Energy (NYSE:D) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The utilities provider reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $3.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.73 billion. Dominion Energy had a return on equity of 7.69% and a net margin of 11.63%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.53 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Dominion Energy will post 2.76 earnings per share for the current year.

Dominion Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.45%. Dominion Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 140.53%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on D shares. Barclays increased their target price on Dominion Energy from $54.00 to $58.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Dominion Energy from $48.00 to $58.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Dominion Energy from $53.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Dominion Energy in a research note on Friday, September 20th. They set a “hold” rating and a $58.00 price target for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Dominion Energy from $54.00 to $57.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $55.40.

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.