Secure Asset Management LLC Boosts Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Secure Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 64.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,402 shares during the period. Secure Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 24.9% in the fourth quarter. U.S. Capital Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 9,262 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $998,000 after buying an additional 1,849 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the fourth quarter worth $45,523,000. Optas LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Optas LLC now owns 2,609 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $281,000 after buying an additional 375 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 7,220 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $778,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on DUK. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $126.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.81.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of DUK opened at $115.97 on Thursday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $99.21 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The company has a market cap of $90.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a quick ratio of 0.44 and a current ratio of 0.67. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $118.67 and a 200-day moving average of $114.88.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 69.32%.

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.