KPP Advisory Services LLC Acquires 170 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,556 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $410,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $522,000. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 4.0% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 685,675 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $79,059,000 after purchasing an additional 26,172 shares in the last quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Duke Energy by 2.3% in the third quarter. Northcape Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,818 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,593,000 after purchasing an additional 305 shares during the period. Bank of Marin acquired a new stake in Duke Energy during the third quarter worth $209,000. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 16,601 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,914,000 after buying an additional 1,432 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on DUK shares. Bank of America increased their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. KeyCorp cut shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Trading Up 2.3 %

DUK opened at $112.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $115.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $109.27. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.27 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The company has a market cap of $86.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

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.