Legal & General Group Plc Cuts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Legal & General Group Plc lessened its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.9% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 7,769,919 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 228,800 shares during the quarter. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $778,779,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 101.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.79.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $115.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.47. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $104.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $118.31.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

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.