Tradewinds LLC. Purchases 291 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Tradewinds LLC. increased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 25,267 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 291 shares during the quarter. Tradewinds LLC.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,913,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 69.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. EntryPoint Capital LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 41.9% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on DUK. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $113.78 on Thursday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $115.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.56. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $87.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $88.73 and a 52-week high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.94 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

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.