SPC Financial Inc. Sells 91 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

SPC Financial Inc. cut its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,347 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 91 shares during the period. SPC Financial Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $962,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,835,047,000 after acquiring an additional 324,289 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,111,521,000 after buying an additional 352,320 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,672,000 after buying an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in 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 buying an additional 813,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,845,000 after acquiring an additional 31,309 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value 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 trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price target on Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued 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 an average price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $119.80 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $114.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.40. The firm has a market cap of $92.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $85.79 and a 1 year high of $120.09.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.49%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

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.