Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Stake Boosted by Bridges Investment Management Inc.

Bridges Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 132.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,655 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,226 shares during the period. Bridges Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 8.0% in the second quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,351,527 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $135,464,000 after purchasing an additional 100,000 shares in the last quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 8.6% in the second quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 35,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,545,000 after purchasing an additional 2,814 shares in the last quarter. Trust Investment Advisors boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.8% in the second quarter. Trust Investment Advisors now owns 13,024 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,305,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Ieq Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 8.3% in the second quarter. Ieq Capital LLC now owns 48,588 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,870,000 after purchasing an additional 3,713 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Garner Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.0% in the second quarter. Garner Asset Management Corp now owns 4,284 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 203 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.36.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.1 %

NYSE DUK opened at $116.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $112.55 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.90. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $83.06 and a twelve month high of $118.31. The stock has a market cap of $89.81 billion, a PE ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.03%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate 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.