Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Buys 115 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Fortitude Family Office LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 69.6% in the second 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. Riverview Trust Co bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Olistico Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 101.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,259,617.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Bank of America boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday, October 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK traded down $1.22 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $119.35. The stock had a trading volume of 637,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,037,251. The company has a market capitalization of $92.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.40 and a 200-day moving average of $107.25. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $86.61 and a 12-month high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.91 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.50%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

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.