Plato Investment Management Ltd Buys 397 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Plato Investment Management Ltd grew its stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 12.9% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,465 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 397 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of DUK. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 9.4% in the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Goodman Advisory Group LLC purchased a new stake in Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,888,000. Jupiter Asset Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Duke Energy during the 1st quarter worth approximately $1,396,000. PrairieView Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Duke Energy in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $501,000. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 362.7% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 27,543 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,664,000 after acquiring an additional 21,590 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on DUK shares. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $135.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Thursday, August 29th. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $102.00 to $118.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $104.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $114.00 to $120.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 25th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $121.85.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.6 %

Shares of DUK stock opened at $110.68 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a 1 year low of $88.27 and a 1 year high of $121.25. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $115.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.70 and a quick ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $85.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.35, a PEG ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.47.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced 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). Duke Energy had a net margin of 14.31% and a return on equity of 9.34%. The company had revenue of $8.16 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.06 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.94 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 15th will be given a dividend of $1.045 per share. This represents a $4.18 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.78%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is 76.84%.

Duke Energy 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.