RNC Capital Management LLC Sells 924 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

RNC Capital Management LLC decreased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 13,651 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 924 shares during the period. RNC Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. KMG Fiduciary Partners LLC now owns 52,097 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,613,000 after buying an additional 2,705 shares in the last quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. CCM Investment Advisers LLC now owns 83,610 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,008,000 after buying an additional 16,356 shares in the last quarter. Pines Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,032,000. Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 296,463 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,941,000 after buying an additional 9,070 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corundum Group Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $1,566,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on DUK. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $119.00 to $124.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. 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 issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.08.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $114.43 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.39 billion, a PE ratio of 21.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.50. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $109.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.66.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.91 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.65%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.