CENTRAL TRUST Co Reduces Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

CENTRAL TRUST Co reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,174 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,654,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,835,047,000 after acquiring an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position 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 buying an additional 40,243 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,845,000 after acquiring an additional 31,309 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $120.57 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $86.61 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $115.40 and its two-hundred day moving average is $107.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. Research 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

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.