Magellan Asset Management Ltd Acquires 40,669 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Magellan Asset Management Ltd grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 14.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 330,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 40,669 shares during the period. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $29,701,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 100,433.2% in the fourth quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 7,846,616 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $808,123,000 after buying an additional 7,838,811 shares in the last quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9,639.5% during the 1st quarter. Providence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 3,538,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,676,000 after purchasing an additional 3,501,855 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 27.7% in the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 6,271,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $605,036,000 after purchasing an additional 1,361,658 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth about $125,668,000. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Duke Energy by 11.5% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 10,018,171 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,031,772,000 after acquiring an additional 1,037,012 shares during the last quarter. 63.68% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE DUK traded up $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $89.40. The stock had a trading volume of 702,382 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,063,388. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $89.56 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $90.88. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $83.06 and a 1 year high of $106.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.43, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a current ratio of 0.76. The firm has a market cap of $68.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 56.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.63 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 2nd. The utilities provider reported $1.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.92 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $7.99 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.13 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 4.47% and a return on equity of 8.24%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.78 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.59 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 18th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 17th will be given a $1.025 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, November 16th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.59%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 261.15%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $93.00 in a report on Monday, October 9th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $109.00 to $96.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 5th. Barclays raised their price target on Duke Energy from $96.00 to $97.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $101.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $98.55.

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; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.