New Covenant Trust Company N.A. Takes Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

New Covenant Trust Company N.A. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 1,711 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $165,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related 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 in the company, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 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 Price Performance

NYSE:DUK traded up $3.33 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $112.60. 3,856,677 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,914,526. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $112.71. The firm has a market cap of $86.90 billion, a PE ratio of 28.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $103.34 and its 200-day moving average is $98.73. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 3.71%. 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. BMO Capital Markets dropped 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 report on Thursday, July 11th. Bank of America upped their target price 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. Finally, KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 22nd. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.58.

Duke Energy 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.