Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. Raises Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Legacy Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,806 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 238 shares during the quarter. Legacy Financial Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $582,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% in the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Sachetta LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 41.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on DUK. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $117.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $116.36.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $116.37 on Friday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average is $112.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.81 billion, a P/E 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th were paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, August 16th. This is a boost from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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.