Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Sells 5,783 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 155,685 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,783 shares during the quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $15,056,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.3% during the first quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 3,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.9% during the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 2,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.0% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 27,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Scotiabank reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.58.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $113.92. 4,606,697 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,871,585. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $116.67. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $103.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $98.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 103.02%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.