National Bank of Canada FI Has $43.54 Million Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

National Bank of Canada FI lessened its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 16.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 404,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 80,514 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI owned approximately 0.05% of Duke Energy worth $43,537,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. United Bank increased its position in Duke Energy by 2.7% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 4,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $549,000 after acquiring an additional 127 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 173,616.7% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 41,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,807,000 after buying an additional 41,668 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 14.7% during the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 581,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $66,999,000 after buying an additional 74,689 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 96,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $11,173,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,379,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $120.44 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company has a market cap of $93.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $92.75 and a 12-month high of $122.50. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.86 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.80.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 73.20%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on DUK. Guggenheim upped their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Scotiabank increased their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.87.

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.