UMB Bank n.a. Lowers Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

UMB Bank n.a. trimmed its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 189,041 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,411 shares during the quarter. UMB Bank n.a.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $20,367,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 332.9% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased 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 research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six 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, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3 %

DUK stock opened at $109.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.10, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $110.47 and a two-hundred day moving average of $111.97.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.82%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.