Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. Acquires 27,399 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Richard C. Young & CO. LTD. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 302.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 36,473 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,399 shares during the period. Richard C. Young & CO. LTD.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. PBMares Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $563,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares during the period. 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 buying an additional 90 shares during the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 90 shares during the period. Kanawha Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $760,000 after acquiring an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 0.9% during the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after acquiring an additional 93 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 20th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $112.17 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $86.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.40 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.33. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $88.27 and a 1 year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.94 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

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.