IFM Investors Pty Ltd Cuts Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

IFM Investors Pty Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 10.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 231,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 26,199 shares during the quarter. IFM Investors Pty Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $26,658,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% during the third quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $523,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the last quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.4% during the third quarter. Grimes & Company Inc. now owns 9,136 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,053,000 after purchasing an additional 938 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 13.2% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 26,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,069,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113 shares during the period. Romano Brothers AND Company lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 5.1% during the third quarter. Romano Brothers AND Company now owns 83,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,630,000 after purchasing an additional 4,037 shares during the period. Finally, Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $211,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock traded down $1.20 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $119.37. 671,610 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,037,418. The company has a market capitalization of $92.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $107.25. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $86.61 and a 1 year 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DUK. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company 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.