Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Stock Holdings Increased by M&R Capital Management Inc.

M&R Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,514 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 167 shares during the quarter. M&R Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $226,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,454,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,485,765,000 after acquiring an additional 243,312 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its position in Duke Energy by 11.5% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,018,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,031,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037,012 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Duke Energy by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 7,921,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $815,809,000 after acquiring an additional 777,678 shares in the last quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 100,433.2% during the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $808,123,000 after acquiring an additional 7,838,811 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in Duke Energy by 4.3% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 7,647,858 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $853,961,000 after acquiring an additional 318,102 shares in the last quarter. 63.68% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 17th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $95.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Friday, July 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 25th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.92.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $1.00 during trading on Thursday, reaching $94.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 692,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,924,205. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 52.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.43. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.76 and a one year high of $108.68. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $91.35 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $93.33.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.98 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $6.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.05% and a net margin of 5.06%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.14 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 17th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 229.05%.

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; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.