Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Trims Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 640,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,725 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $69,051,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 60.1% in the 2nd quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 147,761 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,810,000 after purchasing an additional 55,453 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 47.8% in the 2nd quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 402,982 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $40,391,000 after purchasing an additional 130,272 shares in the last quarter. Point72 Europe London LLP bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,503,000. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 55,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,583,000 after purchasing an additional 516 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.7 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $108.86 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $110.38 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.19.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued 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). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

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.