DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to "Sell"

Key Points

• DTE Energy has been downgraded from a "hold" to a "sell" rating by Wall Street Zen, signaling a negative outlook for the stock.
• Despite the downgrade, the company has received several price target upgrades from other analysts, with Morgan Stanley setting a target price of $140.00 and Citigroup raising theirs to $151.00.
• DTE Energy reported a quarterly earnings miss, with earnings per share of $1.36, slightly below the consensus estimate of $1.37.

Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE - Free Report) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note published on Sunday morning.

DTE has been the subject of a number of other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on DTE Energy from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Morgan Stanley set a $140.00 price objective on DTE Energy and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 21st. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating and issued a $151.00 target price (up from $142.00) on shares of DTE Energy in a research note on Friday, May 23rd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on DTE Energy from $140.00 to $144.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Monday, August 25th. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on DTE Energy from $136.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $144.25.

DTE Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DTE traded down $0.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $136.46. The company's stock had a trading volume of 943,152 shares, compared to its average volume of 889,615. The firm has a market cap of $28.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.72 and a beta of 0.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.96, a quick ratio of 0.57 and a current ratio of 0.94. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $137.23 and a 200-day moving average of $135.22. DTE Energy has a 12 month low of $115.59 and a 12 month high of $142.05.

DTE Energy (NYSE:DTE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The utilities provider reported $1.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $2.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.67 billion. DTE Energy had a net margin of 10.16% and a return on equity of 12.72%. Research analysts expect that DTE Energy will post 7.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

DTE Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 15th will be issued a $1.09 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 15th. This represents a $4.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.2%. DTE Energy's dividend payout ratio is presently 62.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at DTE Energy

In other news, VP Lisa A. Muschong sold 1,600 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.53, for a total value of $224,848.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 4,153 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $583,621.09. This represents a 27.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.33% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of DTE Energy

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,964,872 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $3,439,307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,042,589 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 10,558,531 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $1,409,833,000 after acquiring an additional 222,353 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 3.0% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 5,250,341 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $692,535,000 after acquiring an additional 154,594 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 2,387,012 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $316,184,000 after acquiring an additional 31,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of DTE Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 1,836,832 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $253,979,000 after acquiring an additional 9,664 shares during the last quarter. 76.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.