Peoples Financial Services CORP. Reduces Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. lowered its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.2% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 9,378 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 116 shares during the period. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,081,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 435,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,084,000 after buying an additional 13,406 shares during the period. Duality Advisers LP boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 57.8% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 9,917 shares during the period. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in Duke Energy by 63.8% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 44,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,324,000 after purchasing an additional 17,420 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.4% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,334 shares during the period. Finally, Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,888,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on DUK shares. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of DUK traded up $1.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $118.14. 313,370 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,022,772. The firm has a market cap of $91.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $114.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $106.30. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $85.79 and a 12-month high of $118.31.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.54%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

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.