Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Sold by Latitude Advisors LLC

Latitude Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 281 shares during the period. Latitude Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 29.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $811,000 after acquiring an additional 1,597 shares during the period. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 22.0% during the 3rd quarter. CHICAGO TRUST Co NA now owns 4,337 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $500,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Thomasville National Bank lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Thomasville National Bank now owns 216,501 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $24,963,000 after buying an additional 1,866 shares in the last quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.2% during the third quarter. High Net Worth Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,169 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 10.4% during the third quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 5,889 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $679,000 after acquiring an additional 557 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.08.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $115.50 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The stock has a market cap of $89.22 billion, a PE ratio of 21.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.50. The business’s 50 day moving average is $109.73 and its 200-day moving average is $112.79. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

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.