Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Bought by Central Bank & Trust Co.

Central Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.5% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,922 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 204 shares during the quarter. Central Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $370,000 after purchasing an additional 84 shares during the period. Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.0% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $365,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the last quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.0% during the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $286,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,353 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,378,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 7,233 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $779,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Citigroup increased their target price on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $125.81.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $115.22 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $89.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a PEG 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. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average of $118.43 and a 200 day moving average of $114.91.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 business posted $1.44 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. 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.