Smith Salley & Associates Sells 5,236 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Smith Salley & Associates reduced its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 61,653 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 5,236 shares during the quarter. Smith Salley & Associates’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,983,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 13.9% in the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 28.6% during the third quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $355,000 after buying an additional 894 shares in the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,545,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,691,000 after buying an additional 576 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Adviser Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $304,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, February 12th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $95.91 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $100.39. The stock has a market cap of $73.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.46. The business has a 50 day moving average of $94.13 and a 200-day moving average of $93.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.78% and a return on equity of 8.93%. The business had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.27%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 115.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.