Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Sells 3,573 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.2% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 39,787 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,573 shares during the quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,287,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $38,000. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 82.7% in the 3rd quarter. Carolina Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 360 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $0.27 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $106.14. 967,386 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,802,523. The company has a market capitalization of $81.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.88 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $90.09 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $111.00 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $111.79.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

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.