Cadinha & Co. LLC Raises Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cadinha & Co. LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,235 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 300 shares during the quarter. Cadinha & Co. LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in Duke Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 70,100 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,803,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the period. Jacobi Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% in the fourth 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 fourth quarter valued at about $271,000. Redwood Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 5.1% in the fourth 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, Point72 Europe London LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter valued at about $977,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock traded up $1.66 on Thursday, reaching $112.98. The company had a trading volume of 933,105 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,009,162. 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 $87.19 billion, a PE ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $114.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $105.69. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $85.79 and a 52-week high of $118.31.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 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 company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. The firm’s 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 fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.70%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Scotiabank lifted their target price 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. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.15.

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.