Keene & Associates Inc. Sells 141 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Keene & Associates Inc. cut its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,017 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 141 shares during the period. Duke Energy comprises approximately 2.7% of Keene & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest position. Keene & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,125,000 after acquiring an additional 509,039 shares during the period. Cbre Investment Management Listed Real Assets LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,874,000. Morningstar Investment Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 96.1% in the fourth quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 789,612 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $76,529,000 after buying an additional 387,038 shares during the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,278,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 valued at $6,835,047,000 after buying an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.2 %

DUK opened at $117.31 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $118.18. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $111.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $103.12. The company has a market capitalization of $90.54 billion, a PE ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. 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 3.56%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays upped their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 11th. Scotiabank boosted their price objective 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. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, 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 research report on Monday, August 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.92.

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.