FourThought Financial Partners LLC Raises Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 10.3% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 31,249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,927 shares during the period. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,687,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Simon Quick Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 42.2% during the second quarter. Simon Quick Advisors LLC now owns 7,444 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $878,000 after purchasing an additional 2,210 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,055,087,000 after purchasing an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 7.6% during the 1st quarter. Resolution Capital Ltd now owns 59,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,318,000 after buying an additional 4,255 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy by 88.1% in the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,861,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $592,934,000 after buying an additional 2,276,948 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ethos Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth approximately $1,551,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.4%

NYSE DUK opened at $122.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $95.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $105.20 and a fifty-two week high of $130.03. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.62 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $1.065 dividend. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 66.98%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Duke Energy to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.44.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $1,015,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,367 shares in the company, valued at $1,407,234.60. The trade was a 41.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy 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.