Smith Thornton Advisors LLC Has $676,000 Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Smith Thornton Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 86.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,863 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,714 shares during the period. Smith Thornton Advisors LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $676,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Duality Advisers LP raised its position in shares of Duke Energy by 57.8% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 27,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,618,000 after purchasing an additional 9,917 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 9.4% during 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 period. Goodman Advisory Group LLC acquired a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth about $2,888,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter valued at about $1,396,000. 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 worth $190,845,000 after purchasing an additional 31,309 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on DUK. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $116.00 to $121.00 in a report on Tuesday, October 15th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Six equities 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, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $111.08 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $115.89 and a 200-day moving average of $108.61. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56. The stock has a market cap of $85.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.46, a PEG ratio of 3.07 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 1-year low of $86.61 and a 1-year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.29% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The firm had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $6.84 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.91 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 9.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm 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. 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 3.76%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 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.