Enterprise Financial Services Corp Lowers Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Enterprise Financial Services Corp lowered its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.5% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,128 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 446 shares during the period. Enterprise Financial Services Corp’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $337,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,488,176 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,016,846,000 after acquiring an additional 442,302 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares during the period. Amundi grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Finally, Groupama Asset Managment bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

DUK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Guggenheim boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. 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. Finally, 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, February 3rd. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.57.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK opened at $116.78 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $92.75 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.68 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $111.81 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The utilities provider reported $1.66 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.61 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, February 14th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 73.20%.

Duke Energy 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.