Sky Investment Group LLC Cuts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Sky Investment Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 39,364 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 840 shares during the quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,539,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 101.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.9 %

DUK stock traded down $1.12 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $118.77. The stock had a trading volume of 484,830 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,040,971. 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 firm has a market cap of $91.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50-day moving average of $115.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $106.98. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $85.79 and a 52-week high of $121.25.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.52%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.03%.

Duke Energy Company 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.