Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Cuts Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 31.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 253,966 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 118,885 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $27,362,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $166,263,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 155.1% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,873,321 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $201,832,000 after purchasing an additional 1,138,979 shares during the period. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% during the fourth quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 2,488,849 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $269,368,000 after purchasing an additional 561,784 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.87.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $119.01 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $92.75 and a fifty-two week high of $121.47. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $113.69. The company has a market capitalization of $92.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, February 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 73.20%.

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.