Bangor Savings Bank Cuts Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bangor Savings Bank cut its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 22.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,103 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 314 shares during the period. Bangor Savings Bank’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $107,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 46.6% in the 1st quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.75.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $99.84 on Monday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $100.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $97.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $104.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The company had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

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.