Constitution Capital LLC Has $2.97 Million Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Constitution Capital LLC lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,454 shares during the period. Duke Energy accounts for about 1.7% of Constitution Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 174.2% during the 1st quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth $28,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth $40,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 166.7% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 63.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $112.00 to $110.00 in a report on Sunday, June 11th. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $102.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 23rd. 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $99.92.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock traded down $0.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $94.66. 729,931 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,976,726. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.76 and a fifty-two week high of $106.87. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $91.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.34. The company has a market cap of $72.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.05, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.14 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 17th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.