Private Capital Management LLC Lowers Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Private Capital Management LLC lowered its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 36.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,737 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,547 shares during the period. Private Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $316,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after purchasing an additional 442,302 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its position in Duke Energy by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% in the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after buying an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Finally, National Pension Service boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the fourth quarter. National Pension Service now owns 1,866,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,125,000 after buying an additional 86,378 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.62.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.2 %

DUK stock opened at $116.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.63 billion, a PE ratio of 20.32, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.50. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.10.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Equities 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 announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.20%.

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.