Tompkins Financial Corp Sells 3,569 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Tompkins Financial Corp reduced its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 63,479 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 3,569 shares during the quarter. Tompkins Financial Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,697,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 174.2% in the first quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth $28,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth $40,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. 63.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on DUK. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $102.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.92.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK remained flat at $94.96 during midday trading on Tuesday. 511,031 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,975,321. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $91.60 and its 200 day simple moving average is $93.34. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.76 and a 52 week high of $106.87. The stock has a market cap of $73.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.05, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.75.

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 firm had revenue of $6.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.14 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

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

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.