Benzinga | Jan 12, 2021 12:45PM EST

KeyBanc Believes Dominion Energy Is An 'Attractive Green Play'

Dominion Energy Inc. (NYSE:D) has taken a number of "constructive steps" over the past year to streamline its portfolio and align itself "with a bias toward regulated assets that also support its ESG goals," according to KeyBanc Capital Markets.

The Dominion Energy Analyst: Sophie Karp upgraded Dominion Energy from Sector Weight to Overweight, while establishing a price target of $80.

The Dominion Energy Thesis: The company's portfolio has been restructured with "a focus on decarbonizing and leveraging its renewable generation development opportunities," Karp said.

"The sale of the Gas Storage assets and cancelation of the struggling ACP project put the large 2.64 GW offshore wind project into greater focus," which seems to align well with both federal and state priorities and offers "attractive rate base recovery mechanisms," the analyst wrote in a note.

"Imminent catalysts to watch include the potential settlement of the South Carolina rate case, the beginning of proceedings for the Virginia Triennial rate filing, the outcome of the Virginia IRP, and the permitting process for the CVOW (Coastal Virginia Offshore Wind) project with BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management)," she added.

D Price Action: Shares of Dominion Energy had slipped by 2.5% to $70.84 at the time of publication Tuesday.