Oakworth Capital Inc. Sells 364 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Oakworth Capital Inc. reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 8,099 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 364 shares during the period. Oakworth Capital Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $873,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after acquiring an additional 16,356 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,941,000 after purchasing an additional 9,070 shares during the period. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,566,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $113.88 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $90.09 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $87.97 billion, a PE ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. The business has a 50 day moving average of $109.84 and a 200-day moving average of $112.66. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

About Duke Energy

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.