JFS Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

JFS Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 3,922.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,068 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,942 shares during the quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $584,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 0.5% during 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 buying an additional 324,289 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake 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 valued at $1,111,521,000 after purchasing an additional 352,320 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11,471.4% during the third quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC now owns 6,777,973 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $781,500,000 after purchasing an additional 6,719,398 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 1.7% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,471,035 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $247,672,000 after purchasing an additional 40,243 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Duke Energy by 65.7% during the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 2,052,969 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $205,769,000 after buying an additional 813,744 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on DUK. Bank of America raised their target price on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Duke Energy from $110.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Duke Energy in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 target price for the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Duke Energy has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Insider Buying and Selling at Duke Energy

In other news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of Duke Energy 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 19,884 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,259,617.76. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 0.14% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $115.27 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $89.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.23, a P/E/G ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.46. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $115.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $108.01. Duke Energy Co. has a 52-week low of $86.61 and a 52-week high of $121.25. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during 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%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.91 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a $1.045 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 76.98%.

Duke Energy Company 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.