Community Trust & Investment Co. Acquires Shares of 4,392 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Community Trust & Investment Co. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 4,392 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $506,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. AdvisorNet Financial Inc lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 72.6% during the 1st quarter. AdvisorNet Financial Inc now owns 3,699 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $358,000 after acquiring an additional 1,556 shares during the period. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $4,683,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 27,892 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,697,000 after acquiring an additional 2,068 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock opened at $119.88 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $115.25 and a 200-day moving average price of $107.15. The company has a market capitalization of $92.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.12, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $85.79 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released 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 firm 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 earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.