Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,300,000 shares, a drop of 8.7% from the December 31st total of 9,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. PBMares Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 4.9% in the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded down $0.12 during trading on Friday, reaching $112.14. 3,537,834 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,815,233. Duke Energy has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $110.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank raised 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. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

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.