USS Investment Management Ltd Sells 11,487 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

USS Investment Management Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 214,691 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 11,487 shares during the quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $23,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,378,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. Intergy Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 4.8% in the 4th quarter. Intergy Private Wealth LLC now owns 2,113 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Cravens & Co Advisors LLC now owns 2,624 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $283,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Missouri Trust & Investment Co grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co now owns 1,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $115,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, March 20th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.00.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $116.98 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.57. The stock has a market cap of $90.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.49, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The business’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.32%.

Duke Energy Company 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.