Cadence Bank Trims Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cadence Bank cut its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 212 shares during the quarter. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $852,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 229.1% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 36,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,514,000 after purchasing an additional 25,206 shares in the last quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 7,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 12.8% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 88,218 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,561,000 after purchasing an additional 10,025 shares in the last quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9.8% in the 4th quarter. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC now owns 4,335 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $421,000 after purchasing an additional 387 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $364,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Mizuho upped their target price on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.58.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock traded up $0.47 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $108.03. The company had a trading volume of 2,008,100 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,895,275. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $110.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $102.71 and its 200-day moving average is $98.35. The company has a market capitalization of $83.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.03, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.87%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 103.02%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at approximately $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.