Griffin Asset Management Inc. Acquires New Stake in Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Duke Energy Co. (NYSE:DUK) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 2,599 shares of the utilities provider’s stock, valued at approximately $251,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Duke Energy by 13.9% during the fourth quarter. Sugarloaf Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,826 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $274,000 after acquiring an additional 344 shares during the period. Howard Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Duke Energy in the 4th quarter worth approximately $219,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Duke Energy by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC now owns 25,824 shares of the utilities provider’s stock valued at $2,545,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP boosted its holdings in Duke Energy by 39.4% during the fourth quarter. Western Pacific Wealth Management LP now owns 2,326 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 657 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wagner Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Duke Energy by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Wagner Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,421 shares of the utilities provider’s stock worth $1,691,000 after buying an additional 576 shares during 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, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total transaction of $1,549,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,190,031.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Duke Energy news, CEO Lynn J. Good sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $103.30, for a total value of $1,549,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 437,464 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $45,190,031.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director E Marie Mckee sold 1,695 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $102.31, for a total transaction of $173,415.45. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $409.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 26,695 shares of company stock worth $2,750,815. 0.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Duke Energy from $108.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on Duke Energy from $107.00 to $112.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 20th. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Duke Energy from $101.00 to $94.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Duke Energy from $96.00 to $100.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Duke Energy from $103.00 to $98.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, June 24th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and six have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $102.33.

Duke Energy Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE DUK opened at $100.23 on Friday. Duke Energy Co. has a one year low of $83.06 and a one year high of $104.87. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $101.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $97.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.54, a current ratio of 0.78 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The company has a market capitalization of $77.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 0.45.

Duke Energy (NYSE:DUK) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The utilities provider reported $1.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $7.67 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $7.31 billion. Duke Energy had a return on equity of 9.25% and a net margin of 10.78%. The firm’s revenue was up 5.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Duke Energy Co. will post 5.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Duke Energy Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, June 17th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th were issued a dividend of $1.025 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, May 16th. This represents a $4.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.09%. Duke Energy’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 103.02%.

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.