Diligent Investors LLC Has $800,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Diligent Investors LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 11.5% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,561 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 849 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $800,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Mattson Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Rakuten Securities Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 1,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group upped their price target on Duke Energy from $126.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.81.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.7%

DUK stock opened at $115.97 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50-day moving average of $118.67 and a 200-day moving average of $114.88. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 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.