Certified Advisory Corp Reduces Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Certified Advisory Corp trimmed its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,151 shares during the period. Certified Advisory Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,719,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 109.4% during the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after buying an additional 2,285 shares during the period. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 7.4% during the 4th quarter. TrinityPoint Wealth LLC now owns 26,873 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,841 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 182.5% in the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 39,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,786,000 after purchasing an additional 25,203 shares in the last quarter. TCW Group Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $1,180,000. Finally, Team Hewins LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $303,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Finally, 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 report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.36.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $116.37 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.97. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $118.31. The company has a market capitalization of $89.81 billion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. 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.