Bcwm LLC Lowers Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bcwm LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 96,562 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 21,315 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy accounts for approximately 3.5% of Bcwm LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Bcwm LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $9,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 109.4% in the fourth quarter. Gryphon Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,285 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $505,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Panagora Asset Management Inc. now owns 48,898 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,745,000 after acquiring an additional 1,780 shares during the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its position in Duke Energy by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 7,852 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $762,000 after purchasing an additional 616 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $222,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $117.31 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $118.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 15th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy 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.