Argyle Capital Management Inc. Has $3.48 Million Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. reduced its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 30,208 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,849 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy comprises approximately 1.4% of Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,483,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares during the period. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings 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 buying an additional 761,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $36,278,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. 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 report on Wednesday, September 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.8 %

Shares of DUK stock traded down $2.10 on Tuesday, reaching $114.96. 513,412 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,026,097. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $115.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.78. The stock has a market cap of $88.77 billion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $86.61 and a one year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm 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%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders 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 yield of 3.64%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.98%.

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.