Dover Advisors LLC Has $2.50 Million Holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Dover Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 51.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 20,485 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,002 shares during the period. Duke Energy accounts for approximately 1.1% of Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. Dover Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of DUK. Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at approximately $260,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $314,000 after buying an additional 412 shares in the last quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. Southland Equity Partners LLC now owns 4,167 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 151 shares during the last quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.8% in the 1st quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 66,393 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,098,000 after buying an additional 1,200 shares during the period. Finally, Tritonpoint Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $233,000. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on DUK. BMO Capital Markets cut 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 report on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $126.00 to $125.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup increased their price target on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.81.

Duke Energy Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of DUK stock opened at $116.75 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $90.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $99.21 and a 12-month high of $125.27. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $118.15 and a 200-day moving average of $114.95. The company has a quick ratio of 0.44, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released 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 firm had revenue of $8.25 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.50% and a net margin of 14.90%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.58%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 69.32%.

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.