Ascent Group LLC Sells 2,154 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Ascent Group LLC cut its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 24,952 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,154 shares during the quarter. Ascent Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after buying an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after buying an additional 761,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,816,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,101,000 after buying an additional 240,136 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on DUK shares. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating 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 stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.69.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $117.05 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.18 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.29. 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 capitalization of $90.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.