Eagle Strategies LLC Has $555,000 Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Eagle Strategies LLC raised its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,716 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the quarter. Eagle Strategies LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $555,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during 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 last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 9,635,102 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $864,652,000 after buying an additional 257,665 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.9% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 100,433.2% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,123,000 after buying an additional 7,838,811 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 2.0 %

NYSE:DUK traded down $1.91 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $95.41. 2,475,280 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,059,795. The firm has a market capitalization of $73.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.84, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $100.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $94.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.06.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (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 firm posted $1.11 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 115.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of a number of research reports. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Royal Bank of Canada raised shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research report on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America lowered shares of Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $105.00 to $96.00 in a report on Monday, February 12th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $100.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, February 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.67.

About Duke Energy

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.