Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 69,586 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,127 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $6,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter worth about $40,000. Cibc World Market Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.2% during the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 47,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,276,000 after acquiring an additional 581 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 29.5% during the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 447.8% during the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares during the period. Finally, Mather Group LLC. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.2% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total transaction of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $95.93 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a PE ratio of 27.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 0.46. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $94.07 and its 200-day simple moving average is $93.24. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $100.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50, a current ratio of 0.74 and a quick ratio of 0.49.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The company had revenue of $7.21 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 9th. Evercore ISI raised Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $90.00 to $108.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $106.00 to $107.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 4th. Finally, Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $101.17.

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.