Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. boosted its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,368 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,814 shares during the quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Duke Energy by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $444,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares during the period. Sachetta LLC raised its position in Duke Energy by 41.9% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 96 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $611,000 after acquiring an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 3,753 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $376,000 after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the period. Finally, Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO grew its stake in Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Indiana Trust & Investment Management CO now owns 2,147 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $215,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.36.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $116.37 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $112.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.24, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $118.31.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly 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 analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.91 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share 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 issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.59%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.