Fox Hill Wealth Management Buys 11,740 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Fox Hill Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 176.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 18,402 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 11,740 shares during the quarter. Duke Energy makes up 1.2% of Fox Hill Wealth Management’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Fox Hill Wealth Management’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,780,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.3% during the first quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 3,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $328,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the period. Coston McIsaac & Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 27.3% during the first quarter. Coston McIsaac & Partners now owns 1,236 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. First Bank & Trust lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 10.1% during the first quarter. First Bank & Trust now owns 45,706 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,420,000 after purchasing an additional 4,186 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% during the first quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,293 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,235,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. Finally, Griffin Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $251,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Duke Energy news, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total value of $1,027,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 68,657 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,057,253.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 26,695 shares of company stock valued at $2,750,815 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE DUK traded down $0.36 during trading on Friday, hitting $100.23. 3,898,744 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,576,126. The business’s fifty day moving average is $101.37 and its 200 day moving average is $97.45. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.06 and a fifty-two week high of $104.87. The firm has a market capitalization of $77.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.18, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 5.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.20 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th were given a dividend of $1.025 per share. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 103.02%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, May 20th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, June 24th. Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $100.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, April 15th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, April 5th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $102.33.

Duke Energy Company Profile

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.