Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) was the target of a large decline in short interest in the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 9,910,000 shares, a decline of 6.7% from the May 31st total of 10,620,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 2,740,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.6 days.

Insider Activity

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. Company insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Duke Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth approximately $31,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock traded up $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $99.81. 1,833,312 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,936,197. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $104.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $101.39 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $97.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $77.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 103.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.33.

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.