First Personal Financial Services Increases Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

First Personal Financial Services lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 18,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the period. First Personal Financial Services’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,189,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter worth $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $30,000. Cedar Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings 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 purchasing 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 $36,000. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on DUK. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp downgraded Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Barclays raised their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Up 1.9 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $113.23 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 1 year low of $86.61 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $87.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.85, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.47. The stock 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 quarterly 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 company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.69%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 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.