Bank OZK Trims Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bank OZK lessened its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 155 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy makes up about 1.0% of Bank OZK’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Bank OZK’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,131,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002,157 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,468,016 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $923,907,000 after buying an additional 492,011 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 7,918,910 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $698,923,000 after buying an additional 144,612 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,672,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $656,321,000 after buying an additional 124,114 shares during the period. Finally, FMR LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 11.0% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 7,205,441 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $635,952,000 after purchasing an additional 715,069 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.3 %

NYSE:DUK traded down $1.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $97.71. The stock had a trading volume of 1,994,792 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,375,920. The company has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.13. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.11 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.62.

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.