Teacher Retirement System of Texas Has $14.19 Million Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas lowered its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 76.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 131,745 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 428,444 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $14,194,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 155.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $119.01 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $114.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.69. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $92.75 and a 1-year high of $121.47. The company has a market cap of $92.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.84, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th were paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.20%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Scotiabank increased their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. UBS Group increased their price target on Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

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.