Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by ASB Consultores LLC

ASB Consultores LLC reduced its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,124 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 368 shares during the period. ASB Consultores LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $413,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bridges Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 132.8% in the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $567,000 after buying an additional 3,226 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,351,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $135,464,000 after buying an additional 100,000 shares during the period. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 8.6% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 35,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after buying an additional 2,814 shares during the period. Trust Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% in the 2nd quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 13,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,305,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 8.3% in the 2nd quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 48,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,870,000 after buying an additional 3,713 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $115.14 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $112.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $103.66. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $118.31. The company has a market capitalization of $88.86 billion, a PE ratio of 28.93, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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 directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.36.

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.