Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Raises Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV grew its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.7% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 155,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 4,087 shares during the quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $15,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after acquiring an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Duke Energy by 3.2% in 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 last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after purchasing an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $190,845,000 after purchasing an additional 31,309 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 15.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,816,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $182,101,000 after buying an additional 240,136 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on DUK. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. KeyCorp upped their price target on Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $116.36.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK stock opened at $115.14 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $118.31. 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’s 50 day moving average price is $112.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $103.66. The firm has a market cap of $88.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th were given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Duke Energy Company 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.