Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,281 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 444.0% during the 2nd quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 128,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,530,000 after buying an additional 104,834 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 8,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $752,000 after buying an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9.7% during the 2nd quarter. Beech Hill Advisors Inc. now owns 11,795 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,058,000 after buying an additional 1,045 shares in the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.5% during the 2nd quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 17,379 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,560,000 after buying an additional 260 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.6% during the 2nd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 91,229 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,187,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. 63.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on DUK. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $112.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Sunday, June 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 target price on the stock. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $102.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 25th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.92.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of DUK stock traded down $0.27 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $95.18. 9,702,852 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,985,734. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $91.60 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.33. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.76 and a 1-year high of $107.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.36 billion, a PE ratio of 53.17, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.43. 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 (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The company had revenue of $6.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.61 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Investors of record on Friday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 17th. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.31%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 229.05%.

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