Great Lakes Retirement Inc. Purchases 353 Shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Great Lakes Retirement Inc. increased its position in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,108 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 353 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Retirement Inc.’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the first quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Cibc World Market Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 1.2% in the first quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 47,250 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $5,276,000 after purchasing an additional 581 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 29.5% in the first quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 9,751 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,089,000 after purchasing an additional 2,223 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 447.8% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 1,260 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after purchasing an additional 1,030 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mather Group LLC. raised its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 5.2% in the first quarter. Mather Group LLC. now owns 6,505 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.31% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

DUK has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI raised shares of Duke Energy from an “in-line” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the stock from $90.00 to $108.00 in a research report on Tuesday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised Duke Energy from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $101.00 to $113.00 in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Bank of America downgraded Duke Energy from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $105.00 to $96.00 in a research note on Monday, February 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Duke Energy from $98.00 to $101.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $103.00 to $100.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 9th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $100.00.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Louis E. Renjel sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.57, for a total value of $277,710.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 14,213 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,315,697.41. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 0.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Duke Energy Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of DUK traded up $0.50 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $96.59. The stock had a trading volume of 1,090,039 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,123,380. Duke Energy Co. has a 12 month low of $83.06 and a 12 month high of $100.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $94.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $92.90. The company has a current ratio of 0.74, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.50. The company has a market capitalization of $74.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.46.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 8th. The utilities provider reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.53 by ($0.02). Duke Energy had a return on equity of 8.93% and a net margin of 9.78%. The firm had revenue of $7.21 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.24 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.11 earnings per share. Duke Energy’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.98 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, March 18th. Investors of record on Friday, February 16th were given a $1.025 dividend. This represents a $4.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, February 15th. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 115.49%.

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.