Hennessy Advisors Inc. Cuts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 109,487 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,100 shares during the quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $10,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Howard Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its stake in Duke Energy by 39.4% in the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $226,000 after acquiring an additional 657 shares during the period. Finally, Wagner Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.33.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.8 %

DUK stock traded down $0.78 on Friday, reaching $99.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,106,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,929,149. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $101.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $97.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market cap of $77.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.28, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $104.87.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.11%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,057,253.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.