Destination Wealth Management Increases Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Destination Wealth Management raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 27.9% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 4,895 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,067 shares during the quarter. Destination Wealth Management’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $564,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 250.1% in the 3rd quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB now owns 31,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,604,000 after acquiring an additional 22,332 shares during the period. Sfmg LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at about $229,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 60.3% in the third quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 209,085 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $23,982,000 after purchasing an additional 78,611 shares during the last quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Anchor Investment Management LLC now owns 81,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $9,368,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252 shares during the period. Finally, Tudor Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $464,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $118.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report 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. 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, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $122.23.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

DUK opened at $109.16 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $84.32 billion, a PE ratio of 20.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $114.49 and a 200 day moving average price of $110.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.83%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

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.