Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY Boosts Stake in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY lifted its position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 8.8% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,649 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,350 shares during the quarter. Miller Howard Investments Inc. NY’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $2,031,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 72,885,939 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $7,852,731,000 after purchasing an additional 779,054 shares during the last quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its position in 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 worth $1,949,857,000 after acquiring an additional 124,863 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 2.2% in 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 purchasing an additional 385,612 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1.6% in 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 buying an additional 135,665 shares during the period. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,503,503 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $916,168,000 after acquiring an additional 357,967 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on DUK shares. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $127.00 price objective (up previously from $126.00) on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target 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. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price target on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $126.88.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $117.51 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $117.41 and a two-hundred day moving average of $115.22. Duke Energy Corporation has a 52-week low of $99.21 and a 52-week high of $125.27. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57. The company has a market capitalization of $91.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 0.37.

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, topping 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 net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.44 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 16th were given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, May 16th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 69.32%.

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.