Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Pacer Advisors Inc.

Pacer Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 81,334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 12,042 shares during the quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $8,763,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 332.9% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 316 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 243 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 100.0% during the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of 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 cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $110.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $110.20 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.46. The stock has a market cap of $85.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.