B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. Sells 8,469 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. trimmed its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 10.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 75,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 8,469 shares during the quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,578,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 3.2% during the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 435,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,084,000 after buying an additional 13,406 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP grew its position in Duke Energy by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 9,917 shares during the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in Duke Energy by 63.8% in the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 44,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,324,000 after purchasing an additional 17,420 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,334 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.79.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $115.97 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $118.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $113.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $104.71. The firm has a market cap of $89.50 billion, a PE ratio of 29.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.47.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, 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 accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.