Empirical Finance LLC Acquires 937 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Empirical Finance LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 937 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,678,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 23,010,030 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,030,865,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002,157 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,141,020 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,081,125,000 after acquiring an additional 509,039 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after acquiring an additional 842,458 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $787,328,000 after acquiring an additional 42,782 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,351,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,193,000 after acquiring an additional 84,227 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of 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. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, April 5th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the sale, the director now owns 4 shares in the company, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock traded up $0.93 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $105.39. 2,572,890 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,915,274. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 0.45. The business has a 50 day moving average of $101.77 and a two-hundred day moving average of $97.69. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $105.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.89%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.