Gulf International Bank UK Ltd Trims Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Gulf International Bank UK Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.2% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 62,286 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,762 shares during the period. Gulf International Bank UK Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $7,181,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,835,047,000 after purchasing an additional 324,289 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its position in Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares during the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after buying an additional 40,243 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $112.52 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $86.89 billion, a PE ratio of 20.72, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.46. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $86.61 and a 12-month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.98%.

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.