Foster Group Inc. Invests $208,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Foster Group Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 2,150 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $208,000.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Robertson Stephens Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter worth approximately $275,000. Glenview Trust co boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 34.7% during the third quarter. Glenview Trust co now owns 18,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,651,000 after purchasing an additional 4,820 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 149.2% during the third quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,464 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 2,074 shares during the period. Regal Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 6.3% in the third quarter. Regal Investment Advisors LLC now owns 37,689 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,326,000 after acquiring an additional 2,238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LPL Financial LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 2.3% in the third quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,493,081 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $131,779,000 after acquiring an additional 33,161 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Scotiabank reduced their price objective 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. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, April 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $95.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 28th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Six investment 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, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’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 approximately $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the business’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 directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $100.10 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $104.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average is $100.73 and its 200-day moving average is $97.16. The company has a market capitalization of $77.25 billion, a PE ratio of 25.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results 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 company had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

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

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.