Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. Takes $208,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Valley Brook Capital Group Inc. bought a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund bought 1,804 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% in the second 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. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Sachetta LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 41.9% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $38,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK traded down $1.64 during trading on Thursday, hitting $111.99. 1,322,983 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,039,892. The company has a market cap of $86.48 billion, a PE ratio of 20.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $86.61 and a 1 year high of $121.25. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $115.89 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $108.61.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its 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 return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.73%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.98%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped 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. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

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.