Intact Investment Management Inc. Increases Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Intact Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 39.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 43,500 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 12,400 shares during the period. Intact Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $4,221,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $274,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the last quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 28.6% in the 3rd quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,023 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $355,000 after buying an additional 894 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 4.5% in the 4th quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 3.4% in the 4th quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,691,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ORG Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 31.2% in the 4th quarter. ORG Partners LLC now owns 1,300 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after buying an additional 309 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $99.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $89.00 to $99.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, April 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 9th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.62.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 14,213 shares in the company, valued at $1,315,697.41. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE:DUK traded down $1.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $97.71. 1,994,792 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,375,920. The company has a market capitalization of $75.38 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $94.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $93.77.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.24 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.11 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.