Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. Purchases 115 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,540 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 115 shares during the quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $523,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% in the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Riverview Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth about $30,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 101.2% in the 1st quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on DUK shares. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Mizuho upgraded shares of Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

NYSE:DUK traded down $1.22 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $119.35. 637,208 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,037,251. The stock has a market capitalization of $92.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.29, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $86.61 and a 52-week high of $121.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $115.40 and its 200-day moving average price is $107.25.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $7.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. Duke Energy’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.91 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.50%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 105.03%.

Insider Activity

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