Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Has $69.05 Million Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC reduced its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 640,899 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 7,725 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned 0.08% of Duke Energy worth $69,051,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. PBMares Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.8% in the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Castleview Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.4% during the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $760,000 after purchasing an additional 92 shares during the last quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 3.5% in the third quarter. Baron Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,730 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on DUK shares. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, 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. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.7 %

DUK opened at $108.86 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $84.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 0.49. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $110.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.19. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.92 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, March 17th. Investors of record on Friday, February 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, February 14th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.84%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

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.