Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Purchases 557 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 16.1% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,013 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 557 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bcwm LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth $9,815,000. Bailard Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 10.9% during the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,439,000 after purchasing an additional 3,139 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 25.7% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,852,000 after purchasing an additional 7,319 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $384,000. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 76,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,240,000 after acquiring an additional 20,414 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their target price on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 22nd. Barclays boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.81.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $117.25 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $118.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.95. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $99.21 and a 52-week high of $125.27. The stock has a market capitalization of $91.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.53, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.44 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.57%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

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.