Investors Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK)

Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Traders purchased 12,141 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 156% compared to the typical volume of 4,736 put options.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $112.71 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $87.60 billion, a PE ratio of 19.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. The company has a current ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. Duke Energy has a 12-month low of $99.21 and a 12-month high of $125.27. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.37 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.54.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.71%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, March 21st. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $126.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Truvestments Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 48.9% in the first quarter. Truvestments Capital LLC now owns 4,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $490,000 after acquiring an additional 1,318 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Preservation Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $163,000. Guggenheim Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11.4% in the first quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 286,627 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $34,960,000 after purchasing an additional 29,289 shares in the last quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.6% in the first quarter. CreativeOne Wealth LLC now owns 11,078 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,351,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ieq Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 50.2% in the first quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 50,472 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,156,000 after purchasing an additional 16,871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

About Duke Energy

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.