Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Stake Raised by Exchange Traded Concepts LLC

Exchange Traded Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 85.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 172,297 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 79,139 shares during the quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $19,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in DUK. Ritholtz Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 29.4% in the third quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 7,034 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $811,000 after purchasing an additional 1,597 shares during the period. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 12.5% in the 3rd quarter. Silverlake Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,942 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $685,000 after acquiring an additional 658 shares during the period. Asio Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the third quarter valued at approximately $3,329,000. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.2% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 19,406 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,237,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares during the period. Finally, LongView Wealth Management raised its holdings in Duke Energy by 45.8% during the third quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 12,639 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,457,000 after purchasing an additional 3,972 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $114.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $114.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $105.96. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $85.79 and a fifty-two week high of $118.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $88.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.03, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.98%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $120.15.

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.