Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. Purchases 8,988 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co. raised its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 198.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,506 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,988 shares during the period. Burke & Herbert Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,354,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 69.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $108.69.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 accessible through this link. Also, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock traded up $0.33 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $113.70. 2,732,891 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,967,273. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $104.85 and a 200-day simple moving average of $99.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.75 billion, a PE ratio of 28.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $83.06 and a 1-year high of $116.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Duke Energy 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.