Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Doliver Advisors LP

Doliver Advisors LP raised its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,313 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 185 shares during the quarter. Doliver Advisors LP’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $958,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 69.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 101.2% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on DUK. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank boosted their price target 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 raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $118.21.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $116.66 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $118.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $90.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.46. 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’s fifty day moving average is $113.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.08.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.