Synovus Financial Corp Trims Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Synovus Financial Corp trimmed its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.0% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 148,774 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,572 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $17,154,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Sachetta LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 41.9% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 100.0% during the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 167 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of several research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $109.16 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $84.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $114.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $110.75. 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 (NYSE:DUK) last posted 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). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 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.