Janus Henderson Group PLC Raises Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 97,906 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 970 shares during the quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $10,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 18,097,796 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,949,857,000 after acquiring an additional 124,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 17,873,788 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,930,833,000 after acquiring an additional 385,612 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,562,545 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $922,529,000 after acquiring an additional 135,665 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 6.7% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 8,001,073 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $862,036,000 after acquiring an additional 499,652 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of DUK stock opened at $116.27 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $90.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.36, a PEG ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.39. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $99.21 and a 52 week high of $125.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $114.54.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.17. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.90% and a return on equity of 9.50%. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.44 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.32%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $123.00 to $128.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $126.00.

Duke Energy 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.