Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Holdings Trimmed by Procyon Advisors LLC

Procyon Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,966 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,270,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CKW Financial Group acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at about $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $105.00 to $96.00 in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.2 %

NYSE DUK traded up $0.21 on Thursday, hitting $96.30. 196,416 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,109,735. The company has a market cap of $74.29 billion, a PE ratio of 27.07, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $94.02 and a 200-day moving average of $92.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.11 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.26%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 115.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.