Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Reduces Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio lessened its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 10.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 367,580 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 42,407 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $35,549,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 29.4% in the 1st quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 285,053 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,567,000 after purchasing an additional 64,848 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,203,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,431,000 after buying an additional 16,735 shares during the period. BOKF NA boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the first quarter. BOKF NA now owns 201,914 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $19,398,000 after buying an additional 8,848 shares during the period. Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 25.4% during the first quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 149,558 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,464,000 after buying an additional 30,273 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $65,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Six equities 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.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

NYSE:DUK traded up $0.84 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $108.87. The stock had a trading volume of 1,766,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,888,432. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $98.40. The company has a market capitalization of $84.02 billion, a PE ratio of 27.14, a PEG ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $110.02. 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 (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 103.02%.

About Duke Energy

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.