Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 1,655 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 35,466 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,655 shares during the quarter. Tokio Marine Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,089,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Metis Global Partners LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 15.3% during the 3rd quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 55,214 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,366,000 after buying an additional 7,325 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 9.0% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 58,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,750,000 after acquiring an additional 4,847 shares during the last quarter. ROI Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. ROI Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,363 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,425,000 after acquiring an additional 157 shares during the last quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 12.9% in the 3rd quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd now owns 3,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $399,000 after acquiring an additional 397 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Main Street Financial Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 68.1% during the third quarter. Main Street Financial Solutions LLC now owns 4,701 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 1,904 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Duke Energy stock traded down $0.07 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $111.24. 163,548 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,045,939. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.27 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $115.61 and its two-hundred day moving average is $109.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The company has a market capitalization of $85.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.76%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 76.84%.

About Duke Energy

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.