Equitable Trust Co. Boosts Stock Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Equitable Trust Co. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 27.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,835 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 5,599 shares during the quarter. Equitable Trust Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,979,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased 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 valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 101.2% during the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 169 shares during the period. Finally, EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Mizuho raised shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of DUK opened at $113.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $87.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $86.61 and a 1-year high of $121.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.84 and a 200-day simple moving average of $108.73.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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 dividend yield of 3.69%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.98%.

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.