Old North State Trust LLC Raises Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Old North State Trust LLC raised its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 27,125 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Duke Energy makes up about 2.5% of Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Old North State Trust LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $2,537,000. Zimmer Partners LP purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $166,263,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 13,829.1% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $129,782,000 after buying an additional 1,117,526 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE DUK opened at $109.16 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.07, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $90.09 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a fifty day moving average of $114.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $110.75.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.83%. 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.