Tower Bridge Advisors Has $1 Million Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Tower Bridge Advisors boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 9.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 8,703 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 750 shares during the period. Tower Bridge Advisors’ holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,003,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PBMares Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.8% during the third quarter. PBMares Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,886 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $563,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.1% during the second quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,425 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $444,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Castleview Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% during the third quarter. Castleview Partners LLC now owns 1,944 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the third quarter. Kanawha Capital Management LLC now owns 6,591 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $760,000 after buying an additional 92 shares during the period. Finally, Chicago Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.9% in the third quarter. Chicago Capital LLC now owns 10,163 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,172,000 after buying an additional 93 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $112.17 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $88.27 and a 52 week high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70. The company has a market capitalization of $86.65 billion, a PE ratio of 20.62, a PEG ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $115.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $109.27.

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

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp lowered shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price objective on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

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.