National Bank of Canada FI Sells 80,514 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

National Bank of Canada FI reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 404,042 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 80,514 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $43,537,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. United Bank grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 4,764 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $549,000 after buying an additional 127 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 173,616.7% during the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 41,692 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,807,000 after purchasing an additional 41,668 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 14.7% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 581,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $66,999,000 after purchasing an additional 74,689 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 96,936 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $11,173,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at $32,379,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, March 21st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.87.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.5 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $120.44 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $122.50. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.09, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $115.86 and its 200-day moving average is $113.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.47%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 73.20%.

Duke Energy 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.