Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Avior Wealth Management LLC

Avior Wealth Management LLC lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,670 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 632 shares during the quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $719,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Evergreen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 16.8% during the second quarter. Evergreen Capital Management LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $308,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 34.9% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 550,332 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $55,160,000 after purchasing an additional 142,346 shares during the period. Dark Forest Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter worth about $207,000. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $5,602,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in Duke Energy by 2.4% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 914,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,672,000 after buying an additional 21,749 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

DUK opened at $109.86 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a market cap of $84.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $110.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.21.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.80%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

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.