Duke Energy Corporation $DUK Shares Acquired by Choreo LLC

Choreo LLC boosted its stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 43,093 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 592 shares during the quarter. Choreo LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,417.7% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,668,789 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,084,917,000 after purchasing an additional 17,515,383 shares during the period. GQG Partners LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% in the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,250,133,000 after buying an additional 10,192,503 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $702,351,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 88.1% during the 1st quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. now owns 4,861,309 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $592,934,000 after buying an additional 2,276,948 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 2.3% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 74,562,000 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $9,094,327,000 after acquiring an additional 1,676,061 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on DUK. Evercore ISI initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $143.00 price target for the company. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Tuesday. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.44.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total value of $1,015,160.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 11,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,407,234.60. This represents a 41.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.14% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of DUK stock opened at $123.52 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.66, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Corporation has a twelve month low of $105.20 and a twelve month high of $130.03. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $124.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $121.00. The stock has a market cap of $96.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.08, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company had revenue of $8.54 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.62 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

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.