Opal Wealth Advisors LLC Raises Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Opal Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 19.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 412 shares during the quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA increased its position in Duke Energy by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,949,857,000 after buying an additional 124,863 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,930,833,000 after buying an additional 385,612 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after purchasing an additional 135,665 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $916,168,000 after purchasing an additional 357,967 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Raymond James initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Friday. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Guggenheim boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $125.81.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.5%

NYSE:DUK opened at $116.75 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $99.21 and a one year high of $125.27. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $114.95. The stock has a market cap of $90.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

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.