Williams Financial LLC Invests $593,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Williams Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund purchased 5,927 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $593,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the second quarter. ARS Wealth Advisors Group LLC now owns 135,476 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $13,579,000 after buying an additional 4,145 shares in the last quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.0% in the second quarter. Oakworth Capital Inc. now owns 8,342 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $836,000 after purchasing an additional 394 shares during the period. Allen Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.1% in the second quarter. Allen Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,098 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,213,000 after purchasing an additional 477 shares during the period. Meridian Financial Partners LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 2.1% in the second quarter. Meridian Financial Partners LLC now owns 13,568 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,451,000 after purchasing an additional 275 shares during the period. Finally, TCW Group Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 4.0% in the second quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 10,799 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,082,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on DUK. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $94.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $117.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $110.15.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK stock traded up $0.23 during trading on Friday, hitting $112.30. 2,642,700 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,957,009. The company has a quick ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 0.78 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54. Duke Energy Co. has a 52 week low of $83.06 and a 52 week high of $116.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $105.63 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $100.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $86.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 10.78% and a return on equity of 9.25%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 16th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, August 16th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.72%. This is a positive change from Duke Energy’s previous quarterly dividend of $1.03. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares in the company, valued at $2,259,617.76. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 0.10% of the company’s stock.

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.