Sabal Trust CO Trims Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Sabal Trust CO trimmed its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 1.0% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 222,325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,328 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy accounts for 1.5% of Sabal Trust CO’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Sabal Trust CO’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $27,117,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 14,268.8% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $202,858,000 after buying an additional 1,651,608 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth about $163,819,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 116.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $222,520,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after acquiring an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 14.8% in the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,838,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $521,322,000 after purchasing an additional 625,008 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 target price (up from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Raymond James Financial started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Friday, June 13th. They issued a “market perform” rating on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.94.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $115.99 on Thursday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $117.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.98. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $99.21 and a 52-week high of $125.27. The company has a market cap of $90.15 billion, a PE ratio of 19.24, a PEG ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.