Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky Decreases Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky lessened its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 146,490 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 9,195 shares during the period. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $14,683,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America upped their price target on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank upped their price target on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.21.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $116.22 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a PE ratio of 29.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $113.83 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.00. 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 posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 105.03%.

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.