JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd Boosts Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 24,883 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 500 shares during the period. JARISLOWSKY FRASER Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,681,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parkworth Wealth Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $31,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1,500.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 288 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 270 shares during the period. Finally, CGC Financial Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 366.7% during the fourth quarter. CGC Financial Services LLC now owns 308 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $127.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, March 21st. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.00.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $120.31 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $114.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $93.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $99.21 and a 1-year high of $125.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The company had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

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 paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 69.32%.

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.