Royal Fund Management LLC Sells 319 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Royal Fund Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 32,189 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 319 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,760,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 1st 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 increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 57.8% during the first 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 in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 17,420 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,520,000 after acquiring an additional 9,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,888,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $118.21.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK traded up $0.83 on Wednesday, reaching $111.50. 330,828 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,002,608. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.32 and a 200-day simple moving average of $105.65. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $85.79 and a 52 week 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 firm has a market cap of $86.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.81, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.46.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Duke Energy

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.