Everhart Financial Group Inc. Grows Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Everhart Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 18.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,241 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,110 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $726,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Duke Energy by 0.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $6,835,047,000 after acquiring an additional 324,289 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,111,521,000 after buying an additional 352,320 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,515,388 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $799,599,000 after buying an additional 842,458 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 8,113,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $787,328,000 after buying an additional 42,782 shares during the period. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,351,533 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $228,193,000 after buying an additional 84,227 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 11th. KeyCorp upped their target price on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 14th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK stock traded up $0.24 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $112.37. 2,731,263 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,961,570. The company has a market cap of $86.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $106.68 and its 200 day moving average is $100.58. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $83.06 and a 12-month high of $116.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. 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 EPS. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Investors of record on Friday, August 16th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.72%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.