Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Bought by Centaurus Financial Inc.

Centaurus Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,302 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 106 shares during the period. Centaurus Financial Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $531,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares in the last quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 9,923.0% during the second quarter. Wulff Hansen & CO. now owns 769,265 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $77,103,000 after purchasing an additional 761,590 shares in the last quarter. BROOKFIELD Corp ON bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter valued at $36,278,000. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,835,047,000 after buying an additional 324,289 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 1.5 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $114.05 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $114.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The stock has a market cap of $88.02 billion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $118.31.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion for 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.67%. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. 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. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $118.21.

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.