Truepoint Inc. Purchases New Stake in Duke Energy Corporation $DUK

Truepoint Inc. acquired a new position in Duke Energy Corporation (NYSE:DUK) in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 1,956 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $231,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 6.4% in the second quarter. Private Wealth Asset Management LLC now owns 1,408 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $166,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Souders Financial Advisors increased its holdings in Duke Energy by 0.7% in the first quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 12,443 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,518,000 after buying an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Duke Energy by 0.7% during the 1st quarter. Orca Wealth Management LLC now owns 12,620 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $1,539,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL boosted its stake in shares of Duke Energy by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Roberts Glore & Co. Inc. IL now owns 4,930 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $601,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sentry LLC grew its holdings in shares of Duke Energy by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Sentry LLC now owns 1,831 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. 65.31% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Duke Energy Price Performance

Duke Energy stock opened at $122.74 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $95.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.45. Duke Energy Corporation has a 12-month low of $105.20 and a 12-month high of $130.03. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $124.17 and its two-hundred day moving average is $120.92.

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

Duke Energy Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 16th. Stockholders of record on Friday, November 14th will be given a $1.065 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, November 14th. This represents a $4.26 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Duke Energy’s payout ratio is currently 66.98%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

DUK has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Duke Energy from $138.00 to $136.00 in a report on Monday, November 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $137.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Duke Energy from $134.00 to $138.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $131.00 to $136.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $138.63.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Bonnie B. Titone sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $124.38, for a total value of $248,760.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 19,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,438,843.04. This represents a 9.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 0.14% of the company’s stock.

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.