Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Stock Position Lowered by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC lessened its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 112,596 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,550 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $12,982,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after buying an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13,829.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,103,000 after purchasing an additional 761,590 shares during the period. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $36,278,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $114.08 on Wednesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $115.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $86.61 and a one year high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $88.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.66%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.98%.

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.