Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Cuts Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 8,426,880 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 165,452 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned approximately 1.09% of Duke Energy worth $971,764,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 21.1% in the 3rd quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 93,376 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,766,000 after acquiring an additional 16,259 shares during the last quarter. Tradewinds LLC. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter. Tradewinds LLC. now owns 25,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the last quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 6.8% during the third quarter. Trustmark National Bank Trust Department now owns 29,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,384,000 after buying an additional 1,866 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 25.4% during the third quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 33,215 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,830,000 after acquiring an additional 6,724 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 8,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $980,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $113.63 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $89.52 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market cap of $87.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced 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). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on DUK shares. 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. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. 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.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

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.