PFG Advisors Grows Stake in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

PFG Advisors lifted its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 10.7% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 437 shares during the quarter. PFG Advisors’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $536,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 6.4% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $166,000 after buying an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% during the first quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 12,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.7% in the 1st quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL lifted its position in Duke Energy by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 4,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $601,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentry LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sentry LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Cowen initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 28th. BTIG Research raised shares of Duke Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.00.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $123.74 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.42, a current ratio of 0.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.22 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $105.20 and a twelve month high of $130.03. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $124.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.87.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The business had revenue of $8.54 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.51 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.