Norden Group LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Norden Group LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 11.9% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 7,209 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 766 shares during the quarter. Norden Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $723,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after purchasing an additional 657 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 435,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,084,000 after buying an additional 13,406 shares in the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP grew its stake in Duke Energy by 57.8% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after acquiring an additional 9,917 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 182.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 39,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,786,000 after acquiring an additional 25,203 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S raised its position in Duke Energy by 63.8% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 44,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,324,000 after acquiring an additional 17,420 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $116.60 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $89.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $118.11. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $109.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.17.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $113.92.

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.