Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Increases Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 645,842 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,943 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC owned about 0.08% of Duke Energy worth $78,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 14,268.8% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,663,183 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $202,858,000 after acquiring an additional 1,651,608 shares during the period. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $163,819,000. Capital Wealth Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 116.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 2,065,344 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $222,520,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,581 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 14.8% during the fourth quarter. Nuveen Asset Management LLC now owns 4,838,705 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $521,322,000 after buying an additional 625,008 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.81.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.5%

Duke Energy stock opened at $116.75 on Monday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $118.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $90.75 billion, a PE ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.21 and a fifty-two week high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The firm had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.44 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 69.32%.

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.