Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 532,190 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,708 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC owned about 0.07% of Duke Energy worth $47,759,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norwood Financial Corp purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 312 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 208 shares during the last quarter. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.68% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DUK. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $109.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $93.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. StockNews.com upgraded Duke Energy from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $98.36.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $90.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $69.37 billion, a PE ratio of 57.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $106.43. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $89.61 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.98. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.94 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $7.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.24% and a net margin of 4.47%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.78 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, November 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.