Natixis Advisors LLC Buys 26,172 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 685,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 26,172 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC owned about 0.09% of Duke Energy worth $79,059,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,334 shares in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at approximately $2,888,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,396,000. PrairieView Partners LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $501,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 362.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $2,664,000 after purchasing an additional 21,590 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $112.17 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $88.27 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $86.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average of $115.40 and a 200 day moving average of $109.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released 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 return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend 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.