Northwest Bancshares Inc. Trims Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Northwest Bancshares Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,496 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 266 shares during the period. Northwest Bancshares Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $864,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 65.0% in the 1st quarter. Lake Street Advisors Group LLC now owns 6,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $617,000 after buying an additional 2,514 shares during the period. Pitcairn Co. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 5.8% in the first quarter. Pitcairn Co. now owns 6,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $670,000 after acquiring an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. MQS Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $353,000. Vident Advisory LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Vident Advisory LLC now owns 35,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,471,000 after acquiring an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Scotiabank upped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.0 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $113.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $88.27 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.