Trust Co of the South Sells 93 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Trust Co of the South trimmed its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,047 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 93 shares during the period. Trust Co of the South’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,082,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Legacy Investment Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at $30,000. Sachetta LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Finally, Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 100.0% in the third quarter. Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC now owns 334 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted 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. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.1 %

DUK traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $107.64. 937,409 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,079,736. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.79, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $112.17 and its 200 day simple moving average is $111.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.88%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

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.