Advanced Asset Management Advisors Inc Buys Shares of 19,349 Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Advanced Asset Management Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 19,349 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,939,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverview Trust Co purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 14th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Morgan Stanley boosted 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. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $113.92.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $113.95 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.99 billion, a PE ratio of 28.63, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $83.06 and a 52-week high of $116.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $108.21 and its 200 day moving average price is $101.55. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.67%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

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.