Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Clarius Group LLC

Clarius Group LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,455 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 809 shares during the period. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $669,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norwood Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter worth about $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN lifted its position in Duke Energy by 200.0% during the 2nd quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after acquiring an additional 208 shares in the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on DUK. Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $93.00 in a research note on Monday, October 9th. StockNews.com upgraded Duke Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, September 14th. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $109.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.36.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded up $0.60 during trading on Thursday, reaching $90.21. 526,992 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,055,238. The stock has a market capitalization of $69.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $106.43. The company has a 50 day moving average of $89.62 and a 200-day moving average of $91.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a current ratio of 0.76 and a quick ratio of 0.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $7.99 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.13 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 4.47%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.78 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.59 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be paid a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 261.15%.

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