V Square Quantitative Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

V Square Quantitative Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 7,137 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $823,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 101.2% during the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other 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 value of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $120.76 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.00 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.67. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $85.79 and a 1-year high of $120.85. The company has a market cap of $93.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid 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 3.46%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy 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.