Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,432 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 13,829.1% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,125,607 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $129,782,000 after buying an additional 1,117,526 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its position in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after acquiring an additional 813,744 shares during the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 9,923.0% during the 2nd quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $77,103,000 after acquiring an additional 761,590 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BROOKFIELD Corp ON purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,278,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $113.78 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $88.73 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a market capitalization of $87.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.92, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $115.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.56. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

Duke Energy Company 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.