Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC Cuts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC cut its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,374 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 468 shares during the period. Patriot Financial Group Insurance Agency LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,021,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Mattson Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Guggenheim raised their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Citigroup upped their price target 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. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.81.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $115.22 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $118.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.91. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $99.21 and a 52-week high of $125.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.