Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. Acquires 156 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,357 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 156 shares during the period. Tilia Fiduciary Partners Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $272,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 70,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC now owns 14,396 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,397,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. First Financial Bankshares Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $271,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Redwood Investment Management LLC now owns 23,940 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,323,000 after purchasing an additional 1,155 shares during the period. Finally, Washington Trust Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $5,852,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock traded down $0.22 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $110.45. The company had a trading volume of 570,108 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,004,262. 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 capitalization of $85.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $114.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.65. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $85.79 and a one year high of $118.31.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have issued reports on DUK. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.21.

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.