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A debt-laden Dominion Energy recently cut its payout. Here, its Whitehouse solar project in Louisa County, Va. Courtesy of Dominion Energy Text size
For utilities, especially ones with regulated businesses like electricity transmission, dividend cuts are rare even in challenging times like those brought on by Covid-19.
One exception is
Dominion Energy (ticker: D). The company, based in Richmond, Va., cut its payout early last month in declaring a fourth-quarter dividend of 63 cents a share, down 33% from 94 cents previously. The stock, which yields 3.4%, has returned about minus 6% this year.
Although Dominion is lowering its debt load and retains investment-grade credit ratings, the dividend cut is a cautionary tale. “The bottom line was that Dominion got overextended,” says John Bartlett, a portfolio manager and analyst at Reaves Asset Management.
can two old-timers get together and pose a real challenge to apple? barnes & noble s stock appears to be saying, yes. lots of m&a action today. energy transfer partners buys sunoco. and spain now the eighth eurozone country officially in recession as this week brings an ecb meeting, a french election and the first spanish auction since that s&p downgrade just last week. we should know as we mentioned, david faber joins us from the active/passive investor summit in new york city. david, what s the buzz so far? you know, a lot of talk, as you might imagine, about barnes & noble. in fact, a number of people from jana partners people may remember they bought a 12% position, looking pretty good when it comes to barnes & noble. don t forget, that company s stock is so closely held between riggio, birk l, jana partner, liberal media, that there s not a lot out there. it s a complex deal as you guys know. they put in the college business, one of the keys for them. and the noo