Arbor Investment Advisors LLC Cuts Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Arbor Investment Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 63.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,075 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,066 shares during the period. Arbor Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Abound Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $221,000. Marshall Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,394,000. TCW Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 10,817 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,165,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 46,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,018,000 after buying an additional 2,213 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 115,974 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,942,000 after buying an additional 607 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $115.58 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $89.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.24, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $110.10 and a 200-day simple moving average of $113.01. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Morgan Stanley cut their target price 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. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.62.

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.