Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Acquires Shares of 3,149 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 3,149 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $316,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Duke Energy by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 914,613 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $91,672,000 after acquiring an additional 21,749 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $5,602,000. Dark Forest Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth about $207,000. Finally, Daymark Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 6.0% in the second quarter. Daymark Wealth Partners LLC now owns 37,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,793,000 after purchasing an additional 2,134 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Barclays increased their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their price target 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. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.79.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.9 %

Duke Energy stock opened at $115.17 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $88.93 billion, a PE ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $113.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.44. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $118.31.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.