New Hampshire Trust Purchases 134 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

New Hampshire Trust grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.6% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 3,043 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 134 shares during the quarter. New Hampshire Trust’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First Command Advisory Services Inc. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $771,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Chemung Canal Trust Co. now owns 14,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,405,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Verum Partners LLC now owns 3,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 27,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 10.1% during the 4th quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,266 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $123,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $100.10 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $104.87. The company has a market cap of $77.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.15, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $100.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $97.16.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were paid a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.02%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the transaction, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 over the last three months. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.75.

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.