FourThought Financial Partners LLC Acquires 3,836 Shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC raised its holdings in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 15.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 28,322 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,836 shares during the quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $3,454,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Bcwm LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 4th quarter worth $9,815,000. Investment Management Corp of Ontario boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 212.8% during the 4th quarter. Investment Management Corp of Ontario now owns 79,989 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,618,000 after acquiring an additional 54,413 shares during the last quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 338.6% during the 1st quarter. Andrew Hill Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 37,763 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $4,606,000 after acquiring an additional 29,153 shares during the last quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 7.7% in the 1st quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 291,667 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $35,575,000 after buying an additional 20,942 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 9.9% in the 1st quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 127,419 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $14,451,000 after buying an additional 11,445 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $125.00 to $124.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on Duke Energy from $128.00 to $123.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $130.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $122.00 to $127.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $138.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $127.25.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $119.98 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1 year low of $105.20 and a 1 year high of $125.27. The firm has a market cap of $93.25 billion, a PE ratio of 19.90, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.57, a current ratio of 0.77 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $116.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its 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. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.40% and a return on equity of 9.88%. The business had revenue of $8.25 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.44 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 15th will be paid a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 15th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.05. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 70.65%.

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.