Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC Cuts Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 23.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,537 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,419 shares during the period. Longfellow Investment Management Co. LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $523,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after acquiring an additional 1,117,526 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9,923.0% in the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,103,000 after purchasing an additional 761,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 187.8% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 456,821 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $44,179,000 after purchasing an additional 298,117 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $115.05 on Monday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $90.09 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $88.87 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.08, a PEG ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.80.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.94 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Bank of America boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six research 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 currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.69.

Duke Energy Company 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.