Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) Stock Price

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $131.00 to $136.00 in a research report released on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an overweight rating on the utilities provider’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on DTE. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of DTE Energy from $125.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 18th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of DTE Energy from $137.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group upgraded DTE Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $129.00 to $143.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 3rd. Guggenheim raised shares of DTE Energy from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp cut DTE Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 4th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $137.82.

DTE Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of DTE opened at $136.81 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $28.35 billion, a PE ratio of 20.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.41 and a beta of 0.59. The company’s fifty day moving average is $127.02 and its 200 day moving average is $124.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.77, a quick ratio of 0.46 and a current ratio of 0.71. DTE Energy has a fifty-two week low of $103.06 and a fifty-two week high of $137.03.

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.50 by $0.01. DTE Energy had a net margin of 11.27% and a return on equity of 12.42%. Sell-side analysts expect that DTE Energy will post 7.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

DTE Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 17th will be paid a $1.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 17th. This represents a $4.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. DTE Energy’s payout ratio is presently 64.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Joann Chavez sold 7,062 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.40, for a total transaction of $935,008.80. Following the sale, the senior vice president now directly owns 14,067 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,862,470.80. This represents a 33.42 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Matthew T. Paul sold 3,801 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.56, for a total value of $492,457.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,951 shares in the company, valued at approximately $900,571.56. The trade was a 35.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 11,877 shares of company stock valued at $1,559,205. Corporate insiders own 0.61% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On DTE Energy

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in DTE. SkyOak Wealth LLC lifted its stake in DTE Energy by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. SkyOak Wealth LLC now owns 2,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $262,000 after acquiring an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of DTE Energy by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $146,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in shares of DTE Energy by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. now owns 2,139 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $258,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of DTE Energy by 4.0% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 2,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $320,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in DTE Energy by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 4,345 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $525,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 76.06% of the company’s stock.

About DTE Energy

DTE Energy Company engages in the utility operations. The company's Electric segment generates, purchases, distributes, and sells electricity to various residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southeastern Michigan. It generates electricity through coal-fired plants, hydroelectric pumped storage, and nuclear plants, as well as wind and solar assets.