Trust Co of the South Sells 424 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Trust Co of the South trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 10,140 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 424 shares during the quarter. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,016,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $26,000. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $31,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. Scotiabank decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $102.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’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 approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $1.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $113.92. The stock had a trading volume of 4,606,697 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,871,585. The business’s 50 day moving average is $103.57 and its 200-day moving average is $98.84. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $116.67. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company has a market cap of $87.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS 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 given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

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.