Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Holdings Cut by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC decreased its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 21,314 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 315 shares during the quarter. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Uncommon Cents Investing LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $267,000. Lockerman Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $236,000. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $428,000. FLC Capital Advisors increased its position in Duke Energy by 36.1% during the fourth quarter. FLC Capital Advisors now owns 3,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $374,000 after buying an additional 1,021 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Good Life Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 18,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $96.71 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $100.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.74. The business has a fifty day moving average of $94.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $92.90. The stock has a market cap of $74.61 billion, a PE ratio of 27.23, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.11 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 115.49%.

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.