Principal Financial Group Inc. Raises Position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 960,178 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 37,453 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 0.12% of Duke Energy worth $110,709,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Duke Energy by 12.7% in the 2nd quarter. Premier Path Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,502 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $351,000 after purchasing an additional 395 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 13.9% in the second quarter. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC now owns 2,812 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Fullcircle Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy during the 2nd quarter valued at $330,000. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 22.5% during the 2nd quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 4,962 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $497,000 after buying an additional 913 shares during the period. Finally, Pettinga Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth $232,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. KeyCorp lowered Duke Energy from an “overweight” rating to a “sector weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Mizuho upgraded Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $113.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $120.00 to $126.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 18th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Duke Energy presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $122.23.

Duke Energy Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $108.28 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $83.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.90, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $90.09 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $113.92 and a 200 day moving average of $110.98.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The company 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.94 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.95 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th were given a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.84%.

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.