Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Decreases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 290,918 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 727 shares during the quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $26,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Morgan Stanley grew its position in Duke Energy by 11.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,018,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,031,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037,012 shares during the period. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 100,433.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,123,000 after purchasing an additional 7,838,811 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,647,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $853,961,000 after purchasing an additional 318,102 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,548,816 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $658,887,000 after buying an additional 37,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 27.7% in the 1st quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,271,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $605,036,000 after buying an additional 1,361,658 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.68% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $89.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $68.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $106.43. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $89.56 and its 200 day moving average price is $90.88.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.02. Duke Energy had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The business had revenue of $7.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.78 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be paid a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 261.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on DUK. Mizuho lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $98.00 to $93.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, October 25th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $109.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 5th. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $93.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.36.

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; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.