Provident Wealth Management LLC Invests $226,000 in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Provident Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,958 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $226,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC increased its position in Duke Energy by 69.6% during the 2nd quarter. Fortitude Family Office LLC now owns 290 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 119 shares during the period. Riverview Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy during the first quarter worth $30,000. Olistico Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Cedar Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 101.2% in the first quarter. Cedar Wealth Management LLC now owns 336 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 169 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Duke Energy

In other Duke Energy news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 540 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 8th. The shares were 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. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Duke Energy Trading Up 2.3 %

DUK opened at $119.80 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $114.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $106.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.10, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.46. Duke Energy Co. has a fifty-two week low of $85.79 and a fifty-two week high of $120.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.18 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.02 by $0.16. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 14.29%. The business had revenue of $7.17 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $6.84 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.91 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s quarterly revenue was up 9.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict 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. 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 3.49%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is currently 105.03%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

DUK has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $121.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Duke Energy from $102.00 to $113.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Mizuho raised Duke Energy from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $116.00 to $121.00 in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $111.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 25th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $121.85.

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.