Point72 Europe London LLP Invests $1.50 Million in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 15,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,503,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.1% during the second quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Sachetta LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the second quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.7% during the second quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the second quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $116.79.

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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $116.21 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $118.31. 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 firm has a market cap of $89.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.98 and a 200-day simple moving average of $104.28.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

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.