Constitution Capital LLC Sells 2,454 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Constitution Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 33,123 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,454 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy comprises 1.7% of Constitution Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Constitution Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,972,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 174.2% in the 1st quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $28,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $40,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 166.7% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 63.68% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on DUK. StockNews.com cut Duke Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 2nd. Barclays boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $112.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Sunday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.92.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.3 %

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.30 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $94.66. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 729,931 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,976,726. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $91.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.76 and a 52-week high of $106.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 53.05, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.43.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.07). Duke Energy had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The business had revenue of $6.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.14 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.61 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, August 17th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 229.05%.

Duke Energy Company 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; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.