Dominion Energy (D +0.19%) finished off the trading week in style, with its stock price popping by 5% on Friday. The electricity producer and supplier benefited from a pair of analyst price target raises, which came on the heels of the company's latest set of quarterly results and the announcement of an asset sale. Dominion's Friday surge easily topped the performance of the S&P 500 index, which essentially closed flat on the day.
Matching analyst price target raises
Interestingly, the two raises matched perfectly. Both Wells Fargo's Sarah Akers and BMO Capital's James Thalacker added $1 to their Dominion stock levels to reach $49 per share. The difference is in their recommendations; while Thalacker maintained his overweight (read: buy) designation on the stock, Akers kept her equal weight (neutral) rating.
The moves come one day after Dominion unveiled its fourth-quarter and full-year 2024 financial results. For the quarter, the energy company earned revenue of just over $3.5 billion. That was down from the more than $3.8 billion it booked in the same period of 2022, and short of the consensus analyst estimate of $4.2 billion.
Non-GAAP (generally accepted accounting principles) adjusted net income saw a steeper fall, tumbling to $267 million ($0.29 per share) from the year-ago profit of $652 million. Those prognosticators were collectively modeling $0.38.
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Money from the wind
On a brighter note, at least according to Wells Fargo's Akers, was Dominion's news that it has reached agreement to sell a 50% noncontrolling interest in a large renewable asset, the Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind project. This facility, the largest offshore wind farm in this country, will still be under the full operational control of Dominion.
In Akers's research note detailing her price target raise, the analyst wrote that she considers the terms of the sale to be reasonable. Additionally, the large-scale project is being completed on time and within its budget.
