GHP Investment Advisors Inc. Increases Stake in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 97.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 508 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $121,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 98.1% during the first quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 212 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 105 shares during the period. N.E.W. Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Wayfinding Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at $27,000. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 53.7% during the second quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 249 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 360.0% during the first quarter. Financial Network Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 253 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 198 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $135.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Scotiabank set a $137.00 target price on Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $132.00 to $140.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Finally, TD Cowen assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $143.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.00.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,768,397.72. The trade was a 12.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $123.76 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.42 and a current ratio of 0.66. The company has a market cap of $96.24 billion, a PE ratio of 20.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.44. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $120.76. Duke Energy Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $105.20 and a fifty-two week high of $130.03.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 5th. The utilities provider reported $1.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.04). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.85% and a net margin of 15.51%.The firm had revenue of $7.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.07 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.18 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be issued a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 69.27%.

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.