Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Short Interest Up 9.4% in September

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) saw a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 11,630,000 shares, a growth of 9.4% from the August 31st total of 10,630,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,930,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 101.2% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays upped their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.21.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

DUK traded up $0.92 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $116.22. The stock had a trading volume of 3,729,301 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,982,883. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $113.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The company has a market capitalization of $89.69 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $118.31.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Duke Energy will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

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.