NewEdge Advisors LLC Sells 18,625 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

NewEdge Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 7.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 230,694 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 18,625 shares during the quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $29,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. World Investment Advisors raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 62.7% in the 4th quarter. World Investment Advisors now owns 42,680 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,003,000 after acquiring an additional 16,450 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 15.7% during the 2nd quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 70,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,910,000 after purchasing an additional 9,562 shares in the last quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 1,283,213 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $162,429,000 after purchasing an additional 170,700 shares in the last quarter. Pinebridge Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,326,000. Finally, SBI Okasan Asset Management Co.Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,316,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. Truist Financial decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $138.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $138.00 to $133.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 21st. KeyCorp raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $139.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $140.00 to $132.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $137.94.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $120.44 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $124.38 and a 200 day moving average of $126.32. The company has a market capitalization of $93.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12 month low of $113.89 and a 12 month high of $134.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.30 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $7.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.66 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 15.78%.The business’s revenue was up 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be given a dividend of $1.085 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.17%.

Duke Energy Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is an electric and natural gas utility holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, with a generation portfolio that includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources. It also operates natural gas distribution businesses and provides related energy services.

Duke Energy’s regulated electric utilities serve residential, commercial and industrial customers across the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.