Invst LLC Invests $215,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Invst LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,164 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. William B. Walkup & Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter worth approximately $337,000. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.4% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 135,637 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,595,000 after purchasing an additional 3,115 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 7.9% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 138,290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $13,861,000 after purchasing an additional 10,106 shares in the last quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 26.8% in the second quarter. Magnolia Capital Advisors LLC now owns 5,809 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $582,000 after purchasing an additional 1,226 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 278,497 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $27,914,000 after purchasing an additional 24,888 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $115.30 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $118.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $88.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $113.65 and a 200-day moving average of $104.85.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates 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 period in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.63%. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $117.07.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the 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 directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.