First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Boosts Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 7.5% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 90,155 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,309 shares during the quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $10,395,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 70,675,702 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $6,835,047,000 after acquiring an additional 324,289 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.2% during the first 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 during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 40,243 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 65.7% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Duke Energy by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,973,369 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $190,845,000 after buying an additional 31,309 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of Duke Energy stock opened at $120.76 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $93.20 billion, a PE ratio of 30.34, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $85.79 and a 52-week high of $120.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $115.00 and a 200-day moving average of $106.67.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.46%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 105.03%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on DUK. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.64, for a total transaction of $61,365.60. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.10% of the stock is owned by 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.