Epoch Investment Partners Inc. Lowers Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Epoch Investment Partners Inc. reduced its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 468,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 17,596 shares during the quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. owned 0.06% of Duke Energy worth $46,908,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,103,000 after purchasing an additional 761,590 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in Duke Energy by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,125,000 after acquiring an additional 509,039 shares in the last quarter. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $41,874,000. Morningstar Investment Services LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 96.1% in the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 789,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,529,000 after acquiring an additional 387,038 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth $36,278,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.36.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $116.37 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $89.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $118.31. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $112.55 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.97. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is an increase 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%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Duke Energy 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.