Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. Has $8.14 Million Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. decreased its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 75,566 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 2,516 shares during the period. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $8,141,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Duke Energy by 15.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,816,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,101,000 after acquiring an additional 240,136 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.7% in the second quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 155,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $15,566,000 after purchasing an additional 4,087 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 8.3% during the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 48,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,870,000 after buying an additional 3,713 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 13,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,305,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 35,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,545,000 after acquiring an additional 2,814 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $109.34 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $84.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 0.49. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $110.55 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.81. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.94 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.82%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank upped their target price on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered 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. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $122.23.

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.