South Street Advisors LLC Makes New $223,000 Investment in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

South Street Advisors LLC bought a new position in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,937 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $223,000.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the third quarter worth $30,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 69.6% during the second quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 119 shares in the last quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Sachetta LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 41.9% during the second quarter. Sachetta LLC now owns 325 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the third quarter valued at $38,000. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on DUK. Barclays upped their price target on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on Duke Energy from $116.00 to $118.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price objective for the company. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Duke Energy currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.85.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

DUK traded up $2.51 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $112.17. The company had a trading volume of 3,868,001 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,065,508. The company has a quick ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 0.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55. The business has a 50-day moving average of $115.40 and a two-hundred day moving average of $109.19. The company has a market cap of $86.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.62, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 0.47. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $88.27 and a 1 year high of $121.25.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.62 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.73 by ($0.11). The business 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 was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.94 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $1.045 dividend. This represents a $4.18 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.73%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 76.84%.

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.