Oak Grove Capital LLC Cuts Stake in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Oak Grove Capital LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 114,750 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 13,400 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy comprises approximately 2.0% of Oak Grove Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Oak Grove Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $14,200,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 19.6% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 23,162 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,825,000 after buying an additional 3,797 shares during the last quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.0% during the second quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 31,238 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,686,000 after buying an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 35.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 2,264 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $267,000 after acquiring an additional 595 shares during the period. Finally, GHP Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 97.7% in the 2nd quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 1,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $121,000 after acquiring an additional 508 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Louis E. Renjel sold 6,800 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.67, for a total value of $868,156.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 22,007 shares in the company, valued at $2,809,633.69. This trade represents a 23.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, SVP Regis T. Repko sold 962 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.86, for a total value of $123,001.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 3,896 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $498,142.56. This represents a 19.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $131.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.55 and a quick ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $102.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.11. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $111.22 and a 12 month high of $132.20.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $7.94 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.57 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.41% and a return on equity of 9.66%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.66 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 13th will be paid a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 13th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.2%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.41%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on DUK. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $137.00 to $146.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $141.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $135.00 to $127.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $143.00 to $140.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $141.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 11th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $135.75.

Duke Energy Company Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is a U.S.-based electric power holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company’s core business is the generation, transmission and distribution of electricity to residential, commercial and industrial customers. Duke Energy operates a mix of regulated electric utilities and non-regulated energy businesses, providing essential energy infrastructure and services across multiple states.

Its operating activities include owning and operating generation assets across a portfolio that encompasses nuclear, natural gas, coal, hydroelectric and an expanding array of renewable resources, as well as battery storage and grid modernization projects.