Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC Has $394,000 Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC cut its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,227 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 146 shares during the quarter. Blackston Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bcwm LLC acquired a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,815,000. Bailard Inc. lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Bailard Inc. now owns 31,921 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $3,439,000 after buying an additional 3,139 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 25.7% during the 4th quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 35,755 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $3,852,000 after buying an additional 7,319 shares in the last quarter. First Business Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth approximately $384,000. Finally, Alley Investment Management Company LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Alley Investment Management Company LLC now owns 76,477 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $8,240,000 after acquiring an additional 20,414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $121.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $129.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $123.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $125.81.

Duke Energy Price Performance

DUK opened at $115.31 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $118.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $114.90. The company has a market capitalization of $89.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.52, a current ratio of 0.67 and a quick ratio of 0.44. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $99.21 and a 1 year high of $125.27.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.76 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.70 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Investors of record on Friday, May 16th were issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.