Czech National Bank Raises Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Czech National Bank lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 157,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 10,177 shares during the period. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $18,130,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. KBC Group NV increased its position in Duke Energy by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 47,605 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $4,620,000 after acquiring an additional 1,600 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 40,696 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,949,000 after purchasing an additional 475 shares during the period. 1832 Asset Management L.P. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 13.7% in the fourth quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 22,681 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,201,000 after purchasing an additional 2,736 shares during the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1,328.1% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 113,048 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $10,970,000 after buying an additional 105,132 shares during the period. Finally, Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 17.8% during the fourth quarter. Exencial Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 12,951 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,257,000 after buying an additional 1,960 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Scotiabank increased 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. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $118.21.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK traded down $1.71 during trading on Friday, reaching $114.05. 3,513,136 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,992,161. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $114.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $105.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $88.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $118.31.

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

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.67%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

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.