Savant Capital LLC Increases Position in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Savant Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) by 6.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 97,005 shares of the utilities provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,708 shares during the quarter. Savant Capital LLC’s holdings in Duke Energy were worth $11,447,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 11.6% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 6,754 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $728,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in Duke Energy by 10.9% in the 1st quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 102,965 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $12,428,000 after buying an additional 10,084 shares during the period. Alps Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Duke Energy by 40.0% during the 1st quarter. Alps Advisors Inc. now owns 3,735 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 1,068 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Duke Energy by 10.0% in the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 329,593 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $40,200,000 after buying an additional 30,023 shares during the period. Finally, MJP Associates Inc. ADV grew its stake in Duke Energy by 21.8% in the 1st quarter. MJP Associates Inc. ADV now owns 4,141 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $505,000 after acquiring an additional 741 shares in the last quarter. 65.31% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on DUK shares. Scotiabank set a $137.00 price target on shares of Duke Energy and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 3rd. BTIG Research raised Duke Energy to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 22nd. UBS Group increased their price target on Duke Energy from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Duke Energy in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $127.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 22nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $138.00.

Duke Energy Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $123.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.42. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Corporation has a 1-year low of $105.20 and a 1-year high of $130.03. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $123.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.84.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The utilities provider reported $1.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.75 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $8.54 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. Duke Energy had a net margin of 15.51% and a return on equity of 9.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.62 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Duke Energy Corporation will post 6.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Investors of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a dividend of $1.065 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.4%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio is presently 69.27%.

Insider Activity at Duke Energy

In related news, EVP Thomas Preston Jr. Gillespie sold 6,700 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.26, for a total transaction of $832,542.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 46,422 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,768,397.72. This represents a 12.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president owned 19,608 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This trade represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 0.14% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.