Tufton Capital Management Has $4.80 Million Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Tufton Capital Management reduced its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 49,450 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,229 shares during the quarter. Tufton Capital Management’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,799,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 100,433.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,123,000 after buying an additional 7,838,811 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 8,722.3% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,127,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $112,784,000 after purchasing an additional 1,115,053 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its position in Duke Energy by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,018,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,031,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,012 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after buying an additional 968,723 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.17.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $0.05 during trading on Thursday, hitting $94.55. 358,801 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,971,729. The company has a market cap of $72.94 billion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $94.00 and its 200 day moving average price is $93.22. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $100.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.11 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

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.