Hamel Associates Inc. Cuts Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Hamel Associates Inc. reduced its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,547 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 275 shares during the period. Hamel Associates Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,254,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after purchasing an additional 324,289 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Duke Energy by 3.2% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,111,521,000 after buying an additional 352,320 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC boosted its stake 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 buying an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after acquiring an additional 40,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after acquiring an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $111.89 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $86.61 and a one year high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $86.43 billion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.73 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.07.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

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.