Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC Has $1.93 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC reduced its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 19,274 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 547 shares during the period. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,932,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Duke Energy by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 41.9% in the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on DUK. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.36.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $116.37 on Monday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $112.55 and its 200-day moving average is $103.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $118.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.