Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC Trims Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 220 shares during the quarter. Patton Albertson Miller Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $541,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Sachetta LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% during 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. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.69.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $117.05 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $90.09 and a one year high of $121.25. The company has a market cap of $90.42 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $115.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $109.98.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 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.