Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC Has $18.71 Million Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.2% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 153,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,703 shares during the period. Duke Energy makes up 2.9% of Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $18,711,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Toth Financial Advisory Corp grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 31.6% in the 1st quarter. Toth Financial Advisory Corp now owns 346 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $42,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $370,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Quent Capital LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.0% during the first quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 2,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $365,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. Alhambra Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.1% during the first quarter. Alhambra Investment Management LLC now owns 2,268 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $277,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.0% during the first quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 2,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $286,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 target price (up previously from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $125.81.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of DUK opened at $116.28 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $99.21 and a one year high of $125.27. The company has a market cap of $90.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $118.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $114.92.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.44 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.32%.

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.