Bfsg LLC Has $1.21 Million Stock Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Bfsg LLC lessened its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.2% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 10,517 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after selling 235 shares during the quarter. Bfsg LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Duke Energy by 11.4% during the third quarter. Alliance Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,028 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $464,000 after buying an additional 413 shares during the last quarter. Provident Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter worth about $226,000. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. boosted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 2.8% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. now owns 9,510 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 262 shares in the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. grew its stake in Duke Energy by 2.9% during the third quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 47,993 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $5,534,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the period. Finally, Opal Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 5.8% in the third quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,247 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $259,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:DUK opened at $120.58 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $93.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.30, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. The business’s 50 day moving average is $114.84 and its 200 day moving average is $106.50. Duke Energy Co. has a 12-month low of $85.79 and a 12-month high of $120.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. 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 prior year, the business posted $0.91 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.47%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total value 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.