Retirement Systems of Alabama Sells 4,408 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 169,856 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 4,408 shares during the quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $16,483,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Legacy Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $45,000. Fortis Group Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $71,000. Finally, PFS Partners LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 145.0% in the 4th quarter. PFS Partners LLC now owns 735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $71,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $98.26 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $75.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.68, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $100.13. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $95.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.94.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.