Courier Capital LLC Decreases Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Courier Capital LLC lowered its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 15,404 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 193 shares during the period. Courier Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Westover Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at $200,000. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.7% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,006 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $702,000 after acquiring an additional 247 shares during the last quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $580,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after purchasing an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Williams Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $593,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 22nd. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock traded up $0.42 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $106.29. 2,387,301 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,009,373. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a market cap of $82.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.54, a PEG ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $90.09 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.00 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.79.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.93%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

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.