Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. Increases Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,559 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 197 shares during the period. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,459,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP increased its stake in Duke Energy by 39.4% during the 4th quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 435,157 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $42,084,000 after purchasing an additional 13,406 shares during the last quarter. Duality Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 57.8% during the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 9,917 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 182.5% during the 4th quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 39,014 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,786,000 after purchasing an additional 25,203 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 63.8% during the 1st quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 44,710 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,324,000 after purchasing an additional 17,420 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently commented on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $114.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $113.92.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of DUK opened at $117.31 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $90.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 0.47. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $118.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $111.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $103.12.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.91 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 105.03%.

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.