Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Position Lessened by Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC

Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,446 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 360 shares during the period. Sheaff Brock Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,300,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Stamos Capital Partners L.P. now owns 36,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,511,000 after acquiring an additional 640 shares in the last quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 6.9% during the 1st quarter. Rodgers Brothers Inc. now owns 24,275 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,348,000 after acquiring an additional 1,563 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 24,678 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,387,000 after acquiring an additional 2,740 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 9,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $908,000 after acquiring an additional 2,120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Delap Wealth Advisory LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $236,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $0.47 on Friday, reaching $108.03. 2,008,100 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,895,275. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $102.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $110.02.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.87%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Duke Energy news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Mizuho lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.58.

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.