Centaurus Financial Inc. Purchases 671 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) by 12.5% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,029 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 671 shares during the quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $561,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Fairfield Bush & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 47,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,276,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 29.5% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares in the last quarter. Covestor Ltd grew its position in Duke Energy by 447.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its position in Duke Energy by 5.2% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. 63.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on DUK. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 4th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $105.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 22nd. Mizuho boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $100.00 to $102.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, December 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $112.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $106.64.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $96.39 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.03, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.42. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.76 and a 52-week high of $116.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 0.51 and a current ratio of 0.70. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $99.26 and a 200 day moving average price of $99.01.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 9th. The utilities provider reported $1.11 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.06 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $5.27 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 9.11% and a return on equity of 8.45%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.63 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 16th. Investors of record on Friday, February 17th were paid a $1.005 dividend. This represents a $4.02 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 121.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Louis E. Renjel sold 1,900 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.90, for a total value of $189,810.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 9,967 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $995,703.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Duke Energy

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Duke Energy Corp. engages in the distribution of natural gas and energy related services. It operates through the following segments: Electric Utilities and Infrastructure, Gas Utilities & Infrastructure and Commercial Renewables. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure segment conducts operations in regulated electric utilities in the Carolinas, Florida and the Midwest.