Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. Grows Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Symphony Financial Ltd. Co. lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 6.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the quarter. Symphony Financial Ltd. Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,897,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $40,000. Cibc World Market Inc. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 47,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,276,000 after buying an additional 581 shares in the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 29.5% in the 1st quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after acquiring an additional 2,223 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 447.8% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after acquiring an additional 1,030 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its position in Duke Energy by 5.2% during the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.68% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of DUK traded down $0.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $94.37. The company had a trading volume of 915,682 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,977,358. The stock has a market cap of $72.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.42. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $91.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.34. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.76 and a fifty-two week high of $106.87.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The utilities provider reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.98 by ($0.07). The firm had revenue of $6.58 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $6.16 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 5.06% and a return on equity of 8.05%. Duke Energy’s revenue was down 1.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.14 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.61 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 18th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 18th were paid a dividend of $1.025 per share. This is an increase from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.01. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, August 17th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 229.05%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 17th. StockNews.com downgraded Duke Energy from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, September 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on Duke Energy from $105.00 to $98.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 9th. Guggenheim reduced their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $102.00 in a report on Friday, July 7th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $112.00 to $110.00 in a research report on Sunday, June 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $99.92.

Duke Energy Company 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; and uses coal, hydroelectric, natural gas, oil, solar and wind sources, renewables, and nuclear fuel to generate electricity.