Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. decreased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 168 shares during the quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $432,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after purchasing an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $787,328,000 after purchasing an additional 42,782 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,351,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $228,193,000 after buying an additional 84,227 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,845,000 after purchasing an additional 31,309 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $0.49 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $117.65. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 73,852 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,936,472. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $109.87 and a 200 day moving average of $102.41. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $118.11. 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 company has a market capitalization of $90.80 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.55%. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of several analyst reports. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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.