Washington Trust Bank Reduces Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Washington Trust Bank lowered its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 61,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,048 shares during the quarter. Washington Trust Bank’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,060,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 69.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Sachetta LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 41.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded down $1.27 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $112.36. 1,035,175 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,038,559. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $86.61 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.47. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $115.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $108.61.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.98%.

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.