Kennebec Savings Bank Cuts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Kennebec Savings Bank reduced its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 32.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,385 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 1,136 shares during the period. Kennebec Savings Bank’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $291,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $728,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 37.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 68,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,461,000 after purchasing an additional 18,604 shares in the last quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management now owns 8,551 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $921,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Portfolio Review Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $261,000. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at $11,086,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 target price (up from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.81.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $115.22 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $99.21 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market capitalization of $89.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. The company’s fifty day moving average is $118.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $114.91.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.32%.

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.