Verum Partners LLC Raises Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Verum Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,986 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Verum Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $385,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. Finally, Pacific Capital Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Duke Energy news, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total value of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $409.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 20th. Bank of America increased their target price on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 11th. Mizuho increased their target price on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.33.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $0.46 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $99.81. 1,833,312 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,936,197. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $104.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $101.39 and a 200-day moving average price of $97.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.03 billion, a PE ratio of 25.07, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Investors of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.11%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 103.02%.

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.