Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. Buys New Shares in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cannon Financial Strategists Inc. acquired a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 5,553 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $557,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Heritage Wealth Management Inc. bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $1,907,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $12,749,000. Strategic Investment Solutions Inc. IL bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $208,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.0% in the second quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 3,386 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $339,000 after purchasing an additional 280 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New Century Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the second quarter worth approximately $216,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on DUK. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.21.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.8 %

DUK stock opened at $116.22 on Wednesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $105.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $118.31. The stock has a market cap of $89.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate 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.