Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Has $4.40 Million Position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System reduced its stake in Duke Energy Corporation by 13.2%, ending up with 36,080 shares valued at approximately $4.4 million.
• Duke Energy recently increased its quarterly dividend from $1.05 to $1.065, resulting in an annualized yield of 3.4%.
• The company reported a Q2 miss in earnings per share, with actual earnings of $1.25 falling short of the consensus estimate of $1.29.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System cut its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 13.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,080 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 5,486 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,401,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. 1834 Investment Advisors Co. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $207,000. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 2.0% during the first quarter. Chicago Partners Investment Group LLC now owns 45,894 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $5,627,000 after purchasing an additional 911 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,055,087,000 after purchasing an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI boosted its position in Duke Energy by 5.6% during the first quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 10,982 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $1,340,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategy Asset Managers LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 2.5% during the first quarter. Strategy Asset Managers LLC now owns 36,065 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $4,399,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded down $1.64 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $123.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,211,873 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,591,958. The business's 50-day moving average price is $118.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.70. The firm has a market cap of $96.36 billion, a PE ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 0.36. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52 week low of $105.20 and a 52 week high of $127.85. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The business had revenue of $7.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.07 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.18 EPS. The company's revenue was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 15th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 15th. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 67.97%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $122.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $132.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Tuesday, July 1st. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Friday, June 13th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $129.20.

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.