Procyon Advisors LLC Reduces Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Procyon Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,088 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,966 shares during the period. Procyon Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,270,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $40,000. Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 47,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,276,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 29.5% during the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 447.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 5.2% during the 1st quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research note on Tuesday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $100.00.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK traded up $0.21 during trading on Thursday, hitting $96.30. 196,416 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,109,735. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.07, a PEG ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.39. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.02 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $92.88. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.26%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 115.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.