Kovack Advisors Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Kovack Advisors Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,399 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 582 shares during the quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $968,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 94,077 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,847,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 79.8% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 115,367 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,302,000 after purchasing an additional 51,218 shares during the period. Rossmore Private Capital raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 32.8% during the 3rd quarter. Rossmore Private Capital now owns 3,431 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $396,000 after buying an additional 847 shares during the period. MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $841,000. Finally, Haverford Trust Co boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 7.8% during the third quarter. Haverford Trust Co now owns 12,542 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,446,000 after buying an additional 912 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $111.27 on Thursday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $115.73 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.07. The stock has a market cap of $85.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $88.27 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

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.