Waddell & Associates LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Waddell & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $376,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the second quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $215,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 6.5% during the second quarter. Sound Income Strategies LLC now owns 1,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $171,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 3.3% in the first quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 3,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Breakwater Capital Group grew its position in Duke Energy by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 2,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 15th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $113.92.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK traded down $0.25 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $116.60. 3,482,508 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,953,683. The stock has a market cap of $89.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $118.11. The company has a 50 day moving average of $109.51 and a 200-day moving average of $102.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.58%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy 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.