Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co Sells 497 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co cut its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 21.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,872 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 497 shares during the quarter. Pine Valley Investments Ltd Liability Co’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $216,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 21.7% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 6,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $616,000 after acquiring an additional 1,097 shares during the period. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 34.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 2,426 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 628 shares during the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 10,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 2nd quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 135,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,579,000 after buying an additional 4,145 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Williams Financial LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $593,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $108.81 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $84.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.00, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $110.80.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.84%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays raised their price target 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. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

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.