Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) Position Boosted by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 122.0% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 7,252 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,985 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $727,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.3% during the first quarter. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO now owns 3,390 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $328,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Breakwater Capital Group increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 3.9% during the first quarter. Breakwater Capital Group now owns 2,912 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. First Command Advisory Services Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. First Command Advisory Services Inc. now owns 7,949 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $771,000 after acquiring an additional 110 shares during the period. Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9.0% during the first quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,380 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $133,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares during the period. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 27,481 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,667,000 after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:DUK traded down $2.43 on Monday, hitting $111.49. 3,233,512 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,928,216. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.78. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $103.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $98.86. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $116.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $86.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.22, a PEG ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.05. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The business had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.31 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.20 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, August 16th. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.75%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 105.03%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have issued reports on DUK. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $99.00 to $102.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, June 24th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $112.00 to $114.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.58.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 437,464 shares in the company, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Julia S. Janson sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $102.79, for a total transaction of $1,027,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 68,657 shares in the company, valued at $7,057,253.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

About Duke Energy

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.