True Vision MN LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

True Vision MN LLC reduced its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.6% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 4,727 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 442 shares during the period. True Vision MN LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $545,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,334 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $2,888,000. PrairieView Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $501,000. Commerce Bank boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.9% in the third quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 269,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,041,000 after acquiring an additional 15,069 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 158.9% during the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $978,000 after purchasing an additional 5,206 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on DUK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.69.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE DUK traded up $0.80 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $117.84. 73,127 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,060,423. The stock has a market cap of $91.03 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $115.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.98. 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 released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 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, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

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.