Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by HighTower Advisors LLC

HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 14.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 581,498 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 74,689 shares during the quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.08% of Duke Energy worth $66,999,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in DUK. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $781,500,000 after buying an additional 6,719,398 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Duke Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,672,000 after acquiring an additional 40,243 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.3% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $264,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 15.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,816,758 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $182,101,000 after purchasing an additional 240,136 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on DUK shares. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 target price on shares of Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Barclays boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.69.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $113.64 on Wednesday. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The stock has a market cap of $87.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.47. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $115.09 and a 200-day simple moving average of $110.44.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company’s revenue was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 yield of 3.68%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 76.84%.

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.