North Carolina-based Duke Energy owns about 58,200 megawatts of power generation capacity and distributes power to about 7.2 million customers. The company mainly sources power from coal, natural gas and oil, but it also has nuclear power plants. The company’s subsidiary Duke Energy Florida (DEF) recently announced plans to invest in electric vehicles, solar technology and renewable energy projects. The plan includes base rate increases of about $5 billion over the next three years.
A total of 36 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Duke Energy entering the fourth quarter of 2020. John Overdeck and David Siegel’s Two Sigma Advisors owns 1.98 million shares of the company, worth $175.51 million.
Virginia-based Dominion Energy supplies electricity to parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina and supplies natural gas to parts of Utah, West Virginia, Ohio, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia. The stock was recently upgraded by KeyBanc to Overweight from Sector Weight with an $80 price target. The firm praised Dominion for its focus on decarbonizing and leveraging its renewable generation development opportunities. The firm said that Dominion is also focusing on its 2.64 GW offshore wind project which will pay off in the future.
Stuart J. Zimmer’s Zimmer Partners 2.58 million shares of Dominion as of the end of the third quarter of 2020. The net worth of these shares is $203.98 million. Overall, 36 funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in the company entering the fourth quarter.
Ohio-based FirstEnergy operates ten electric utility operating companies. one of which is amongst the country’s biggest investor-owned utilities and serves 6 million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey and New York.
FirstEnergy in November 2020 pledged to go carbon free by 2050, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030. In the third quarter, FirstEnergy posted better-than-expected Q3 results and said it continues to expect operating EPS of $2.40-$2.60, versus the Street’s consensus of $2.50.
Hedge fund sentiment for FirstEnergy improved significantly in the third quarter, as 58 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey ended the period with stakes in the company, up from 41 funds a quarter earlier. Here is what Heartland Advisors recently said about FE:
“The portfolio’s Utility names lagged on a relative basis with the shortfall stemming from a stock-specific issue in the group. FirstEnergy (FE) is a business we’ve owned in the past and sold out of after shares had appreciated following its successful transition to a pure regulated utility through the divestiture of its merchant power unit.
We initiated a new stake in FirstEnergy in March after shares sold off due to concerns that the recession would have an outsized impact on the company’s industrial-oriented client base. Similar to our successful experience in the past, we felt that the company was attractive given its meaningful discount to its peers.
Subsequent to our investment, FirstEnergy was named in an investigation related to $60 million of payments made by the merchant power entity to Ohio politicians. Our initial reaction when news broke was to reduce our exposure to the company, however, we continued our due diligence on the matter and believe that market reaction overestimated the likely fallout from the investigation.
As shares fell in price, we added to our position in the belief that as the matter proceeds, some of the clouds casting a shadow on the business will subside.”
Florida-based NextEra has about 46 gigawatts of generating capacity. Its subsidiaries include Florida Power & Light, NextEra Energy Resources, NextEra Energy Partners, Gulf Power Company and NextEra Energy Services. The company delivers electricity to approximately 10 million people in Florida.
In November 2020, NextEra shares spiked after Reuters reported that the company made a $15 billion offer to buy Kansas-based Evergy.
A total of 63 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey reported owning shares of NextEra entering the fourth quarter, up from 55 funds a quarter earlier. The total worth of these shares is $2.71 billion.
With a market cap of about $24.2 billion, PG&E Corporation tops the list of 12 best utility stocks to buy now. The company runs the Pacific Gas and Electric Company, which provides natural gas and electricity to almost 5.2 million households in Northern California. The company is overseen by the California Public Utilities Commission. In the third quarter, PG&E posted a revenue of $4.88 billion, which shows over 10% growth when compared to the same period last year.
A total of 76 hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey held stakes in Pacific Gas as of the end of the third quarter. The net worth of these shares is $6.7 billion.
Please also see Top 15 Dividend Stocks With Upside Potential and 15 Largest Utility Companies In The World.
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Disclosure: No positions.
