Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Stock Holdings Lessened by NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC trimmed its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 173,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 165 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $20,041,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter worth about $2,586,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,625,990 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,973,000 after purchasing an additional 56,629 shares in the last quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $377,000. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% in the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 34,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,477,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 797.0% during the second quarter. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. now owns 129,528 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $12,983,000 after buying an additional 115,088 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six 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, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK traded down $2.32 on Friday, hitting $105.91. The company had a trading volume of 713,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,725,490. The stock has a market cap of $81.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $111.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.59. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

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.