Sentry Investment Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Sentry Investment Management LLC decreased its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,040 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 434 shares during the quarter. Sentry Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $392,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 100,433.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,123,000 after buying an additional 7,838,811 shares during the period. Imprint Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 8,722.3% in the second quarter. Imprint Wealth LLC now owns 1,127,837 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $112,784,000 after acquiring an additional 1,115,053 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Duke Energy by 11.5% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,018,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,031,772,000 after purchasing an additional 1,037,012 shares in the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $95,031,000 after buying an additional 968,723 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Barclays lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a report on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $101.25.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $94.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $72.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.52, a PEG ratio of 2.52 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $94.06 and a 200 day moving average price of $93.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.39.

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

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.