Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by First National Bank of South Miami

First National Bank of South Miami reduced its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 290 shares during the period. First National Bank of South Miami’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $724,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Rainsberger Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 36.9% during the first quarter. Rainsberger Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 10,784 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,040,000 after buying an additional 2,905 shares during the period. 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 raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.5% in the 1st 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 during the period. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 17.6% during the 1st quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 24,857 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,398,000 after acquiring an additional 3,716 shares in the last quarter. 63.68% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on DUK shares. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 6th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $102.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. StockNews.com lowered 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 Duke Energy in a research report on Wednesday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 price target on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Duke Energy from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. One 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.92.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.2 %

DUK opened at $94.96 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $73.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.43. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.76 and a 52 week high of $106.87. The business’s 50 day moving average is $91.60 and its two-hundred day moving average is $93.34. 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 posted 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). The business had revenue of $6.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.16 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.61 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th were issued a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. 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.