Miracle Mile Advisors LLC Invests $207,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Miracle Mile Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 1,693 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Bcwm LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,815,000. Bailard Inc. raised its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 3,139 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,852,000 after acquiring an additional 7,319 shares during the period. First Business Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth approximately $384,000. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 76,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,240,000 after buying an additional 20,414 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 target price (up previously from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.81.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $116.27 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $118.12 and a 200 day moving average of $114.93. The company has a market capitalization of $90.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 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.