Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Increases Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 5.8% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 12,995 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 708 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $1,498,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9.4% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 108,819 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $10,520,000 after acquiring an additional 9,334 shares during the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,888,000. PrairieView Partners LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at about $501,000. Marshall Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 158.9% in the third quarter. Marshall Financial Group LLC now owns 8,483 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $978,000 after buying an additional 5,206 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,203,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $116,431,000 after buying an additional 16,735 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Duke Energy Price Performance

NYSE DUK opened at $113.57 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $87.73 billion, a PE ratio of 20.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.96 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $88.27 and a fifty-two week high of $121.25. The business’s fifty day moving average is $115.33 and its 200 day moving average is $109.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a quick ratio of 0.45 and a current ratio of 0.70.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.73 by ($0.11). The firm had revenue of $8.16 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.34% and a net margin of 14.31%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.94 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be issued a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.68%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

DUK has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. KeyCorp cut Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

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.