Stableford Capital II LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Stableford Capital II LLC cut its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 9,491 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 154 shares during the quarter. Stableford Capital II LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,023,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after purchasing an additional 1,117,526 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $112.14 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $110.03 and its 200 day moving average is $112.49. 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 stock has a market cap of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results 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). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

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.