Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Shares Purchased by Banque Cantonale Vaudoise

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 57.7% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 59,105 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 21,635 shares during the quarter. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $6,815,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Duke Energy by 3.2% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 11,493,340 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 11,471.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Duke Energy by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $247,672,000 after purchasing an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in Duke Energy by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 2,290,641 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $264,111,000 after purchasing an additional 6,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Duke Energy by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after purchasing an additional 813,744 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK opened at $113.57 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $87.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $88.27 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $115.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $109.43.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Barclays lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 1st. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Six equities research 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, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

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.