Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda Takes $354,000 Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Kapitalo Investimentos Ltda purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 3,647 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $354,000.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at $31,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $39,000. Finally, EdgeRock Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $40,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $102.75.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $100.06 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $77.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $100.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.12. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $104.87.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.20 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.10%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 103.02%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Duke Energy news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 over the last 90 days. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.