Northstar Financial Companies Inc. Increases Stock Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Northstar Financial Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 37.7% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 10,089 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,760 shares during the period. Duke Energy makes up about 1.2% of Northstar Financial Companies Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Northstar Financial Companies Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,190,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.5% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,716,783 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $8,934,580,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154,783 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Duke Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 18,684,447 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,205,070,000 after purchasing an additional 319,001 shares in the last quarter. GQG Partners LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 17,880.0% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 10,249,508 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,250,133,000 after purchasing an additional 10,192,503 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 8,921,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,088,158,000 after buying an additional 418,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.1% in the first quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 8,656,244 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,055,087,000 after buying an additional 93,699 shares during the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Robert Alexander Glenn sold 8,200 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.80, for a total transaction of $1,015,160.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 11,367 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,407,234.60. The trade was a 41.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Scotiabank set a $137.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. UBS Group lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, October 10th. TD Cowen started coverage on Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, October 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $143.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $138.44.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE:DUK opened at $122.52 on Friday. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $130.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $124.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $120.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $95.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.75 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $8.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is 66.98%.

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.