Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 23.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 4,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,419 shares during the quarter. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 14.7% in the third quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 2,683 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. DRW Securities LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 2,604.9% in the third quarter. DRW Securities LLC now owns 104,870 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,092,000 after purchasing an additional 100,993 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 117,798 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,024 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1,258.1% in the third quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 49,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,689,000 after purchasing an additional 45,708 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 32.7% in the 3rd quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 111,429 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,848,000 after buying an additional 27,462 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. 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. Barclays increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.69.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $115.05 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $90.09 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.80. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $88.87 billion, a PE ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

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.