Steph & Co. Buys 793 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Steph & Co. grew its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,458 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 793 shares during the quarter. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $915,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.6% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 9,164.0% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 979,294 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $95,031,000 after acquiring an additional 968,723 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $799,599,000 after acquiring an additional 842,458 shares during the last quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 242.3% during the 4th quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 1,044,174 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $101,348,000 after acquiring an additional 739,112 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 273.2% in the third quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 766,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $67,635,000 after buying an additional 561,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other 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 transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $1.60 on Monday, hitting $101.44. The stock had a trading volume of 437,383 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,950,477. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $100.83 and a 200 day moving average of $97.27. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $104.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The firm has a market capitalization of $78.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.40, a PEG ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.04%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Scotiabank cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.33.

Duke Energy Company 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.