Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Has $1.25 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 27.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,821 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,254,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 46.6% in the first quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.33.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $101.51 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $100.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $97.32. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $104.87. The company has a market capitalization of $78.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 in the last quarter. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, operates as an energy company in the United States. It operates through two segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure (EU&I), and Gas Utilities and Infrastructure (GU&I). The EU&I segment generates, transmits, distributes, and sells electricity in the Carolinas, Florida, and the Midwest.