Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Sees Large Drop in Short Interest

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 8,300,000 shares, a decrease of 8.7% from the December 31st total of 9,090,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,300,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.5 days.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research report on Tuesday, October 15th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Institutional Trading of Duke Energy

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Joel Adams & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $268,000. Plan Group Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13.4% during the fourth quarter. Plan Group Financial LLC now owns 9,104 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $981,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares during the period. Bank of Jackson Hole Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $93,000. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 25,001 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,694,000 after acquiring an additional 2,144 shares during the period. Finally, C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors grew its position in Duke Energy by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 5,541 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $597,000 after acquiring an additional 416 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK traded down $0.12 on Friday, reaching $112.14. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,537,834 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,815,233. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 0.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $110.03 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $112.49. Duke Energy has a 12-month low of $90.09 and a 12-month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 5.91 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.