Covington Investment Advisors Inc. Buys 286 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Covington Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 49,688 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 286 shares during the period. Covington Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $5,729,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in DUK. EntryPoint Capital LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Duke Energy by 1.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 1,203,916 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $116,431,000 after purchasing an additional 16,735 shares during the last quarter. Bayesian Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Duke Energy during the first quarter valued at $1,073,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted 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 valued at $10,520,000 after purchasing an additional 9,334 shares during the last quarter. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 3.9% in the 1st quarter. B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 84,071 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $7,420,000 after buying an additional 3,125 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Duke Energy in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $138.00 price target for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $121.69.

Duke Energy Trading Up 0.3 %

DUK stock opened at $115.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $88.84 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 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 12 month low of $90.09 and a 12 month high of $121.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $115.08 and its 200 day moving average is $109.88.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly 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 company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The business’s revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.94 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 EPS for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 15th will be paid a dividend of $1.045 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 15th. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.