Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 20,645 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,507 shares during the quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. CKW Financial Group purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $29,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $40,000. Finally, Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.11% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 2.6 %

Duke Energy stock traded up $2.42 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $96.09. 3,164,859 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,158,994. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $92.88. 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 capitalization of $74.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.96, a PEG ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $100.39.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. Duke Energy’s revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.11 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 16th were paid a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 115.49%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 12th. 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 report on Wednesday, January 10th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $100.00.

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.