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Dominion Energy (D) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

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Dominion Energy (D - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $71.18, moving +0.72% from the previous trading session. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily gain of 2.12%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 2.13%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 2.64%.

Coming into today, shares of the energy company had lost 3.67% in the past month. In that same time, the Utilities sector gained 1.63%, while the S&P 500 lost 4.4%.

Investors will be hoping for strength from D as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be February 4, 2019. On that day, D is projected to report earnings of $0.94 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 3.3%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $3.27 billion, up 1.96% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $4.09 per share and revenue of $13.50 billion. These totals would mark changes of +13.61% and +7.23%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for D. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.26% lower. D currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, D is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 17.26. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 18.09, so we one might conclude that D is trading at a discount comparatively.

Also, we should mention that D has a PEG ratio of 2.85. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Utility - Electric Power stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 3.38 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 75, putting it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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