NewEdge Advisors LLC Sells 18,625 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Key Points

• NewEdge Advisors reduced its Duke Energy stake by 7.5% in the second quarter, selling 18,625 shares and retaining 230,694 shares valued at approximately $29.2 million.
• Duke Energy posted quarterly EPS of $1.43, beating the $1.30 consensus estimate, while revenue reached $7.59 billion. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $137.94.
• The company raised its quarterly dividend from $1.06 to $1.085 per share, equivalent to a $4.34 annualized payout and a 3.6% yield.

NewEdge Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 230,694 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 18,625 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC's holdings in Duke Energy were worth $29,201,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 12,624.6% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 114,736,922 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $14,523,400,000 after buying an additional 113,835,227 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $605,680,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 5,254.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 2,735,816 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $358,227,000 after acquiring an additional 2,684,721 shares during the period. Cullen Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $244,731,000. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in Duke Energy by 56.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 2,662,460 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $312,067,000 after purchasing an additional 965,808 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Mizuho set a $136.00 target price on Duke Energy in a research report on Wednesday, August 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $132.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, August 5th. BTIG Research reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $136.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $138.00 to $133.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 21st. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $137.94.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.7%

DUK opened at $120.44 on Thursday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $124.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $93.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.08, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $113.89 and a fifty-two week high of $134.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.43.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 3rd. The utilities provider reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by $0.13. The company had revenue of $7.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.66 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.78% and a return on equity of 9.78%. Duke Energy's revenue was up 1.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.25 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.72 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 14th will be issued a $1.085 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 14th. This is a boost from Duke Energy's previous quarterly dividend of $1.06. This represents a $4.34 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.6%. Duke Energy's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.17%.

Duke Energy Company Profile

Duke Energy Corporation is an electric and natural gas utility holding company headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina. The company generates, transmits, distributes and sells electricity, with a generation portfolio that includes natural gas, nuclear, coal, hydroelectric and renewable energy resources. It also operates natural gas distribution businesses and provides related energy services.

Duke Energy's regulated electric utilities serve residential, commercial and industrial customers across the Carolinas, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky.

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