First Bank & Trust lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK – Free Report) by 20.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 37,869 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,350 shares during the period. Duke Energy accounts for approximately 0.9% of First Bank & Trust’s portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. First Bank & Trust’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,398,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 174.2% in the first quarter. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC now owns 266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Compass Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, Heritage Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 166.7% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Management LLC now owns 504 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $52,000 after purchasing an additional 315 shares during the last quarter. 63.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
DUK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $102.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 17th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $99.92.
View Our Latest Analysis on Duke Energy
Duke Energy Stock Performance
NYSE:DUK traded down $0.17 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $95.01. The company had a trading volume of 1,039,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,973,945. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.76 and a 52 week high of $106.87. The firm has a market cap of $73.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.14, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.43. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.60 and its 200-day moving average price is $93.34.
Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.07). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.05% and a net margin of 5.06%. The company had revenue of $6.58 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.16 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.61 EPS for the current year.
Duke Energy Increases Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 18th will be paid a dividend of $1.025 per share. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, August 17th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 229.05%.
Duke Energy Company Profile
(Free Report)
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; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.
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