US Bancorp DE Trims Stake in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

US Bancorp DE cut its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 13.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 355,622 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 53,453 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $44,009,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11,417.7% in the 2nd quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,668,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,084,917,000 after acquiring an additional 17,515,383 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1.5% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,716,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,934,580,000 after purchasing an additional 1,154,783 shares during the period. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $86,309,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 448.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 826,296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $102,254,000 after buying an additional 675,768 shares during the last quarter. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 64.4% during the second quarter. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp now owns 1,472,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $173,734,000 after buying an additional 576,674 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $136.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Mizuho set a $130.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Tuesday, February 10th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $126.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 6,800 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.67, for a total value of $868,156.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 22,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,809,633.69. This represents a 23.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $123,001.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 3,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $498,142.56. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $129.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.33 and a current ratio of 0.55. Duke Energy Corporation has a one year low of $111.22 and a one year high of $130.03. The firm has a market capitalization of $100.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.51. The company’s fifty day moving average is $120.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $122.06.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.01. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 9.66%. The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.66 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.3%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 67.41%.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.