Cadence Bank Increases Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Cadence Bank boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.5% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 371 shares during the period. Cadence Bank’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,002,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.4% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,520,000 after buying an additional 9,334 shares during the period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $2,888,000. PrairieView Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $501,000. Commerce Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 5.9% during the 3rd quarter. Commerce Bank now owns 269,217 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,041,000 after purchasing an additional 15,069 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd grew its stake in Duke Energy by 1,258.1% during the 3rd quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd now owns 49,341 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,689,000 after buying an additional 45,708 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

NYSE DUK opened at $117.41 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.70 billion, a PE ratio of 21.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a fifty day moving average of $115.12 and a 200 day moving average of $110.03. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.56%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently commented on DUK. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price 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. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.69.

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.