HM Payson & Co. Trims Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

HM Payson & Co. lowered its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,859 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 489 shares during the quarter. HM Payson & Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $739,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,016,846,000 after buying an additional 442,302 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth approximately $2,537,000. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.7 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $116.78 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $90.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $111.81 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim upped their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.57.

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.