Highland Capital Management LLC Sells 920 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Highland Capital Management LLC lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 44,602 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 920 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,805,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth about $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 332.9% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 100.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $110.67 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $85.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $110.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. 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 quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 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.