Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Position Raised by Tower Bridge Advisors

Tower Bridge Advisors boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 750 shares during the quarter. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,003,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 9.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,520,000 after buying an additional 9,334 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $2,888,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth approximately $1,396,000. PrairieView Partners LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $501,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 362.7% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 21,590 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on DUK. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Up 2.3 %

DUK stock opened at $112.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $88.27 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.27. The firm has a market cap of $86.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 76.84%.

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.