Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC Sells 421 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,066 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 421 shares during the quarter. Wiley BROS. Aintree Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $455,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.6% in the first quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 50,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,833,000 after buying an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Rainsberger Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 36.9% in the first quarter. Rainsberger Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,040,000 after buying an additional 2,905 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 21.2% in the first quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 4,565 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $440,000 after buying an additional 798 shares in the last quarter. Coastline Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.5% in the first quarter. Coastline Trust Co now owns 4,925 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $475,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 17.6% in the first quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,398,000 after buying an additional 3,716 shares in the last quarter. 63.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK traded up $0.97 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $94.85. 910,631 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,925,659. The company has a quick ratio of 0.52, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.76 and a twelve month high of $108.68. The company has a market cap of $73.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.45, a PEG ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.33.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.07). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.05% and a net margin of 5.06%. The company had revenue of $6.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 18th will be given a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 229.05%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of several analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 25th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Barclays raised their price target on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. StockNews.com downgraded Duke Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 price target for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.92.

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; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.