Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Sells 290 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lessened its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 290 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $993,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at $455,000. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Fulton Breakefield Broenniman LLC now owns 5,351 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $577,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares during the period. Baker Boyer National Bank boosted its position in Duke Energy by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Baker Boyer National Bank now owns 3,179 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $343,000 after purchasing an additional 126 shares during the period. Orca Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,350,000. Finally, Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC now owns 8,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $953,000 after purchasing an additional 347 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $110.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $112.46. The firm has a market cap of $85.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.78%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Finally, Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

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.