Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Reduces Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lowered its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK - Free Report) by 27.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 237,190 shares of the utilities provider's stock after selling 87,626 shares during the quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd.'s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $27,348,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $781,500,000 after acquiring an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $247,672,000 after acquiring an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider's stock worth $264,111,000 after acquiring an additional 6,500 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 15.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,816,758 shares of the utilities provider's stock valued at $182,101,000 after acquiring an additional 240,136 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays upped their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded down $0.27 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $113.47. 127,475 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,061,271. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $89.52 and a one year high of $121.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $115.21 and a 200 day moving average of $109.56. The company has a market cap of $87.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The business's revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy's payout ratio is currently 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.