Missouri Trust & Investment Co Has $29,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Missouri Trust & Investment Co reduced its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 54.5% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 296 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 355 shares during the quarter. Missouri Trust & Investment Co’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $29,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 174.2% in the first quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the last quarter. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth $40,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Heritage Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 166.7% in the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $52,000 after acquiring an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth $52,000. 63.68% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $102.00 in a research note on Friday, July 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, June 7th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $99.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $96.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Duke Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, September 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.83.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.8 %

DUK stock opened at $91.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.52. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.76 and a 52-week high of $111.26. The company has a 50-day moving average of $91.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $93.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 50.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.07). Duke Energy had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 8.05%. The firm had revenue of $6.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.61 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be given a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.50%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 229.05%.

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; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.