Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Position Lessened by DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale

DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale reduced its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 188,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 19,754 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $18,984,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 109.4% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $505,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 7,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $762,000 after acquiring an additional 616 shares during the period. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $117.31 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $90.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $118.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $111.20 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $103.12.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.92.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is 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.