Sawyer & Company Inc Decreases Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Sawyer & Company Inc cut its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 20.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 8,917 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,275 shares during the quarter. Sawyer & Company Inc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $961,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $2,888,000. CCM Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after buying an additional 16,356 shares during the period. Hilltop Holdings Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy by 59.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc. now owns 23,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,697,000 after buying an additional 8,699 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,016,846,000 after acquiring an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Finally, Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 86.5% in the 4th quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 148,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $16,021,000 after acquiring an additional 68,977 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $106.39 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.87. The firm has a market cap of $82.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for 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%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

About Duke Energy

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.