Kestra Investment Management LLC Invests $210,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 1,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $210,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Paradigm Capital Management LLC NV bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at approximately $758,000. FSA Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Duke Energy during the 3rd quarter worth $50,000. Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 125.9% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 48,384 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,579,000 after buying an additional 26,965 shares during the period. L.M. Kohn & Company grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.0% during the 3rd quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 6,868 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $792,000 after buying an additional 678 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Captrust Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the third quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 402,248 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $46,379,000 after buying an additional 6,527 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp downgraded shares of Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price target on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.69.

Duke Energy Stock Down 1.6 %

NYSE:DUK opened at $115.17 on Tuesday. Duke Energy Co. has a twelve month low of $90.09 and a twelve month high of $121.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $115.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $110.29. The company has a current ratio of 0.70, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The company has a market cap of $88.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.96 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 76.84%.

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.