Texas Permanent School Fund Corp Cuts Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Texas Permanent School Fund Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 127,432 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 31,941 shares during the quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $12,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 69.6% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $117.16 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.42 billion, a PE ratio of 29.44, a PEG ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $118.11. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $109.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $102.41. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.92.

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.